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THE  HISTORY 
OF  THE  JEWS 


BY 


PROFESSOR    OF    HISTORY,    HEBREW    UNION 
COLLEGE 


NEW  YORK 

BLOCH  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
1910 


Copyright,  1910,  by 
BLOCH   PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.    From  the  Babylonian  Captivity,  586  B.C.,  to  the 

Destruction  of  the  Second  Temple,  70  C.E.    7 

II.    From  the  Destruction  of  Jerusalem,  70,  to  the 

Completion  of  the  Mishnah,  200  ....  20 

III.  Era  of  the  Talmud,  200-600 28 

Religious  History  of  the  Era 30 

IV.  From  the  Rise  of  Islam,  622,  to  the  Era  of  the 

Crusades,  1096 35 

Literary  Activity  of  the  Period 39 

V.    The  Jews  of  Europe,  1040-1215 46 

Spiritual  Life  of  the  Period 48 

VI.    Period  of  Oppression,  1215-1492 53 

Jewish    Literature,  Thirteenth    to   Fifteenth  Cen- 
tury      63 

VII.    The  Period  of  Improvement,  1492-1791    ...  70 

Intellectual  and  Literary  Life 83 

VIII.    The  Period  of  Emancipation  from  1791    ...  90 

Culture  in  the  Nineteenth  Century       ....  100 

Index 113 

3 


PREFACE 

There  are  two  main  difficulties  confronting  the 
historian,  when  he  attempts  to  write  history.  He 
must  always  ask  himself,  First :  Are  the  facts  which  I 
find  recorded  really  facts,  and  Second :  Do  I  interpret 
them  correctly?  Thiers,  in  his  "Histoire  du  Con- 
sulat,"  Paris,  1851,  Vol.  XI,  p.  71,  speaks  of  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  the  Jews  of  Portugal,  who 
numbered  200,000,  received  the  French  troops  in  1809. 
There  were  perhaps  not  two  hundred  Jews  living  in 
Portugal  at  that  time,  and  they  played  no  part  in  pub- 
lic affairs.  In  an  address  to  the  convention  of  the 
Order  Brith  Abraham,  Mayor  Gaynor,  of  New  York, 
said  on  May  15,  1910:  "The  great  Frederick  issued 
a  general  privilege,  and  declared  it  as  a  maxim,  that 
oppression  of  the  Jews  never  brought  prosperity  to 
any  state,  and  Napoleon  not  only  followed  the  same 
course  but  convoked  the  Sanhedrin. "  The  facts  are 
in  the  main  correct,  but  the  presentation  is  all  wrong. 
Frederick  issued  his  "Revidierte  Generalprivilegium" 
of  April  17,  1750,  for  the  Jews  of  Prussia,  but  it  is 
based  on  the  mediaeval  idea  of  restrictions  in  the  most 
elementary  rights  of  human  beings.  His  sentiment 
with  regard  to  the  Jews  is  evident  from  a  letter  which 
he  wrote  to  the  Minister  von  Hoym,  May  17,  1780,  in 
which  he  says:  "If  the  Jews  were  expelled  and  Chris- 
tians would  take  their  places  as  innkeepers,  it  would 
be  for  the  good  of  the  country,  and  we  would  have 
more  human  beings  and  less  Jews"  (Monatsschrift 
fuer  die  Geschichte  und  Wissenschaft  des  Judentums, 
1895,  p.  379).  Napoleon  had  by  the  convocation  of 
the  "Assembly  of  Jewish  Notables"    and  the  subse- 


6  PREFACE 

quent  Sanhedrin,  1806-1807,  insulted  the  Jews.  The 
law  of  September  27,  1791,  had  declared  them  as  citi- 
zens, and  he  asked  them  whether  they  considered 
France  as  their  fatherland,  and  when  these  and  simi- 
lar questions  were  answered  in  the  affirmative  with 
emphatic  protestation  of  loyalty,  Napoleon  neverthe- 
less reintroduced  the  mediaeval  principle  of  Jewish  dis- 
abilities by  issuing  laws  restricting  Jews  in  doing 
business  on  credit.  The  facts  quoted  by  Mayor  Gaynor 
prove  the  opposite  of  what  he  wished  to  prove  by  them. 

These  instances  taken  from  Jewish  history  could  be 
multiplied  endlessly  from  every  period  and  every  sec- 
tion of  the  world's  history.  Jewish  history  has  to  con- 
tend with  two  additional  difficulties.  It  extends  over 
every  part  of  the  civilized  world,  but  it  lacks  chrono- 
logical sequence,  at  least  until  we  come  to  modern 
times.  Another  difficulty  is  that  it  deals  with  almost 
every  known  spiritual  activity  of  mankind.  The  stu- 
dent, in  order  to  understand  Jewish  history,  should 
know  the  constantly  shifting  boundary  lines  of  the 
Italian  states  from  mediaeval  times  until  1870,  and  he 
should  know  something  of  the  morphological  theories 
of  Hebrew  grammer  and  of  scholastic  philosophy. 

These  difficulties  make  themselves  especially  felt  in 
a  brief  manual,  and,  no  doubt,  every  teacher  of  Jew- 
ish history  must  have  had  such  an  experience.  The 
Rabbis  (Sanhedrin  93,  b)  find  fault  with  Nehemiah  for 
having  spoken  ill  of  his  predecessors  in  office  (Neh.  V, 
15).  I  do  not  wish  to  incur  the  same  censure.  It  re- 
mains for  the  student  and  the  teacher  who  use  my 
book  to  judge  whether  I  improved  upon  my  predeces- 
sors. My  object  was  to  place  in  the  hand  of  the  stu- 
dent, who  is  guided  by  a  capable  teacher,  a  concise 
and  yet  readable  manual  of  the  whole  post-biblical 
history.  The  biblical  period  I  intentionally  omit- 
ted, in  order  to  avoid  contested  ground  and  to  allow 
the  book  to  be  used  in  all  schools  regardless  of 
dogmatic  differences. 

GOTTHARD  DEUTSCH. 
Cincinnati,  O.,  July,  1910. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS 


CHAPTER    I 


FROM   THE    BABYLONIAN    CAPTIVITY    (586    B.C.) 

TO   THE    DESTRUCTION    OF   THE    SECOND 

TEMPLE    (70    C.E.) 

Palestine,  the  buffer  state  between  Egypt  and  Meso- 
potamia, the  two  rival  powers  of  the  ancient  world, 
was  an  important  base  of  operations  for  all  conquerors, 
and  its  possession  was  eagerly  sought.  In  722  B.C., 
King  Sargon  of  Assyria  conquered  the  northern  part, 
the  kingdom  of  Israel.  The  southern  part,  the  king- 
dom of  Judah,  was  at  that  time  protected  by  Assyria's 
rising  and  already  powerful  rival,  the  Babylonian 
empire.  When  Babylonia  had  become  the  master  of 
Mesopotamia,  Judaea's  doom  was  sealed,  and  in  586 
Nebuchadnezzar  captured  Jerusalem  and  made  all  of 
Palestine  a  province  of  his  large  empire. 

With  the  death  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  great  Baby- 
lonian empire  declined  rapidly,  and  in  539,  Cyrus,  the 
King  of  Persia,  captured  the  city  of  Babylon,  and 
became  the  master  of  the  whole  of  the  Babylonian 
empire,  and  so  of  Palestine.  He  was  favorably  in- 
clined to  the  Jews,  and  gave  permission  to  the  descend- 
ants of  the  exiles  from  Palestine  to  return  to  the  land 
of  their  fathers.     Only  a  few  thousand  made  use  of 

7 


8  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

this,  and  returned  under  the  leadership  of  Zerubbabel, 
a  descendant  of  the  House  of  David,  and  of  Joshua  ben 
Jehozadak,  the  high  priest.  Of  the  right  to  build  the 
Temple  they  made  no  use  for  the  time,  but  erected 
instead  an  altar  on  the  site  of  the  former  edifice.  The 
development  of  the  new  commonwealth,  however,  was 
slow,  until  Ezra,  a  man  learned  in  the  law,  and,  there- 
fore, called  the  Scribe,  returned  from  Babylonia  in 
458  B.C.  and  taught  the  people  the  law  of  God.  He 
was  joined  in  445  B.C.  by  Nehemiah,  the  cupbearer  of 
the  Persian  King  Artaxerxes,  who  received  permis- 
sion from  his  ruler  to  go  to  Palestine  and  assist  Ezra 
in  his  work.  He  succeeded,  after  many  difficulties, 
in  rebuilding  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  and  giving  the 
new  community  a  firm  organization.  In  432  B.C.  he 
returned  to  his  post  at  the  King's  Court,  but  upon 
learning  that  the  new  community  was  suffering  from 
many  difficulties,  he  returned  again  to  Palestine  to 
finish  his  work  there. 

It  seems  that  the  Jews  lived  in  peace,  for  during 
the  following  century,  while  they  were  under  Persian 
rule,  only  two  incidents  are  recorded.  In  the  reign  of 
Artaxerxes  III,  Ochus  (358-337  B.C.),  the  Jews  re- 
belled ;  but  the  king  defeated  them  near  Jericho  and 
sent  the  rebels  to  Hyrcania  into  exile.  About  the 
same  time  the  high  priest,  Johanan,  killed  his 
brother,  Joshua,  in  the  Temple,  and  the  Persian  gov- 
ernor fined  the  Jews  very  heavily. 

Not  long  afterwards  the  mighty  Persian  empire  was 
conquered  by  Alexander  the  Great  (333  B.C.),  and  the 
Jews  passed  under  the  rule  of  the  Macedonian  king. 

There  are  various  legends  c.bout  Alexander's  kind- 
ness to  the  Jews,  especially  one  which  states  that  he 


HISTORY   OF    THE   JEWS  9 

showed  great  respect  to  the  high  priest.  There  is 
also  a  report  that  he  exempted  the  Jews  from  paying 
taxes  in  the  Sabbatical  year.  His  immense  empire 
fell  to  pieces  soon  after  his  early  death,  and  various 
generals  fought  for  a  portion  of  the  inheritance,  each 
expecting  to  become  the  successor  of  the  great  con- 
queror. Palestine  with  Syria  was  first  occupied  by 
Ptolemy,  who  founded  the  dynasty  named  after  him 
in  Egypt  in  320  B.C.  He  lost  it  to  another  general, 
Antigonus  (315  B.C.),  who  was  defeated  by  Seleucus 
at  the  battle  of  Gaza  (312  B.C.),  after  which  the  king- 
dom of  Syria  with  Antioch  as  its  capital  was  founded. 
The  Syrians  counted  their  era  from  this  date  and  the 
Jews  adopted  this  custom,  keeping  it  up  until  late  in 
mediaeval  times.  The  struggle  continued  until,  in 
301  B.C,  the  battle  of  Ipsus  decided  the  issue  in  favor 
of  Ptolemy  and  Palestine  was  united  with  Egypt  until 
Antiochus  III  of  Syria  annexed  it  to  his  dominions  in 
198  B.C. 

The  Jews  seem  to  have  been  treated  with  fairness 
until  Antiochus  IV,  Epiphanes  (175-164  B.C.),  suc- 
ceeded his  father.  The  latter  had  been  defeated  by 
the  Romans  in  the  battle  of  Magnesia  (189  B.C.),  and 
Antiochus  IV  was  sent  as  hostage  to  Rome.  Knowing 
that  the  Romans  watched  the  growth  of  the  Syrian 
kingdom  with  great  jealousy  lest  it  should  become  a 
powerful  rival,  he  tried  to  consolidate  his  states  and 
for  this  reason  wished  to  remove  everything  which 
kept  the  Jews  apart  from  their  neighbors.  In  his 
attempt  to  Hellenize  the  Jews  he«was  supported  by  a 
party  among  them.  Joseph,  the  son  of  Tobias,  and 
the  nephew  of  Onias  II,  the  High  Priest,  had  already 
under  the  Egyptian  kings  been  appointed  tax  collector 


10  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

and  was  very  powerful.  He  and  his  family  sup- 
ported the  Syrian  kings  in  their  desire  to  Hellenize  the 
Jews. 

Simon,  a  member  of  this  family,  quarrelled  with  the 
High  Priest,  Onias  III,  and  in  order  to  revenge  him- 
self he  informed  the  Syrian  government  that  the  Tem- 
ple of  Jerusalem  contained  large  treasures.  Heliodorus 
was  sent  to  Jerusalem,  but  for  some  reason  which 
legend  has  obscured  by  miraculous  tales,  he  was  pre- 
vented from  looting  the  treasury.  Onias  was  called 
to  Antioch  to  answer  certain  charges  of  disloyalty, 
while  his  brother  Joshua,  or  Jason  as  he  called  him- 
self, took  his  place.  Jason  offered  Antiochus  a  higher 
tribute  than  his  brother  had  paid,  and  declared  his 
willingness  to  support  the  king  in  introducing  Greek 
customs  among  the  Jews.  He  became  high  priest, 
but  shortly  afterwards  Menelaus,  another  member  of 
the  family,  offered  Antiochus  a  still  higher  tribute  and 
was  made  high  priest  in  Jason's  place.  Unable  to  pay 
the  sum  he  had  promised,  he  appropriated  valuable 
pieces  from  the  Temple  treasury  to  bribe  the  King's 
officials.  Onias  reproached  him  and  was  assassinated 
upon  his  order. 

This  fact  embittered  the  Jews.  Menelaus  was 
charged  with  sacrilege,  but  as  he  possessed  great  in- 
fluence the  case  was  dismissed  and  his  opponents  were 
executed.  These  events  enraged  the  Jews  still  more, 
and  when  in  170  B.C.,  Antiochus  was  in  Egypt  en- 
gaged in  warfare,  the  Jews  rebelled  at  the  false  report 
of  his  death.  Antiochus  returned  and  took  bitter 
revenge,  pillaging  the  city,  and  desecrating  the  Tem- 
ple. Two  years  later  he  sent  his  general,  Apollo- 
nius,  to  punish  the  rebels  and  the  latter  did  it  in  the 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  11 

most  cruel  manner.  At  the  same  time  a  strong  fort 
was  built  in  Jerusalem  and  the  practice  of  the  Jewish 
religion,  particularly  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
and  the  dietary  laws,  and  the  study  of  the  Torah  pro- 
hibited, on  the  ground  that  they  tended  to  keep  the 
Jews  aloof  from  their  neighbors.  At  the  same  time 
an  altar  to  Zeus  was  erected  in  the  Temple  and 
other  heathenish  altars  placed  in  various  cities. 
The  Jews  were  compelled  under  penalty  of  death  to 
offer  sacrifices  to  the  Greek  gods. 

The  pious  people  fled  from  Jerusalem  into  the  wil- 
derness in  order  to  escape  the  fulfillment  of  the  king's 
orders.  Among  the  leaders  of  those  who  were  deter- 
mined rather  to  die  than  give  up  their  religion  was 
Mattathiah,  an  aged  priest  of  the  family  of  the  Hasmo- 
naeans.  In  the  little  town  of  Modin  he  killed  a  Jew 
who  made  preparations  to  offer  sacrifice  on  the  hea- 
thenish altar,  and  an  officer  was  sent  to  execute  the 
king's  decree.  This  was  the  signal  for  rebellion. 
Mattathiah  had  five  sons  of  whom  Judah,  called  the 
Maccabee,  was  the  leader  in  battle.  Judah  gathered 
a  small  number  of  the  faithful  around  him  and  suc- 
ceeded in  defeating  various  generals  and  finally  the 
viceroy,  Lysias.  Then  he  entered  Jerusalem,  removed 
all  traces  of  idolatry  from  the  Temple  and  rededicated 
it  to  the  service  of  God  in  165  B.C.  Shortly  after- 
wards, in  164  B.C.,  Antiochus  IV  died  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  Antiochus  V,  still  a  boy,  for  whom 
Lysias  governed  as  regent.  The  last  having  many 
difficulties  to  contend  with,  granted  the  Jews  religious 
freedom.  He  and  the  young  king,  however,  were 
soon  killed,  and  Demetrius  I,  a  nephew  of  Antiochus 
IV,  came  to  the  throne  in  162  B.C. 


12  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

Demetrius  continued  to  give  the  Jews  religious  free- 
dom, but  he  appointed  a  high  priest  named  Alkymus, 
whom  the  people  disliked,  and  so  the  rebellion  started 
anew.  Judah  defeated  the  general  Nikanor  in  161 
B.C.,  but  a  year  later  he  fell  in  battle  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  brother  Jonathan.  Meantime  Syria  was 
torn  to  pieces  amid  constant  rebellion  caused  by 
various  claimants  to  the  throne,  each  of  whom  tried 
to  win  the  Jews  over  to  his  side  in  order  to  obtain  a 
free  hand  in  fighting  his  rivals.  Thus  Jonathan  was 
confirmed  as  high  priest  by  the  Syrian  king  (153  B.C.), 
but  later  on,  being  distrusted,  was  assassinated  by  the 
Syrian  governor,  Tryphon  (143  B.C.)  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  last  surviving  son  of  Mattathiah,  Simon 
(143-135  B.C.).  Simon  drove  the  Syrian  garrison  from 
the  fort  at  Jerusalem  and  was  not  only  confirmed  as 
high  priest  but  also  as  ruler  of  the  Jews.  He  mani- 
fested his  sovereignty  by  issuing  coins  bearing  his 
name. 

The  Romans,  who  were  glad  to  see  the  power  of  the 
Syrian  king  weakened,  formed  an  alliance  with  him, 
and  so  Israel  was  again  an  independent  nation. 
Simon  was  assassinated  by  Ptolemy,  his  own  son-in- 
law,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  John  Hyrcan 
(135-105  B.C.),  who  assumed  the  title  of  king  and 
was  at  the  same  time  the  high  priest.  The  Syrian 
kingdom  became  altogether  dismembered,  and  John 
Hyrcan,  aided  by  the  Romans,  united  under  his  scep- 
tre not  only  the  Jews  living  in  Palestine  but  also  con- 
quered those  parts  of  the  country  which  were  inhabited 
by  other  nations.  The  Idumaeans  and  the  Samaritans 
were  forcibly  converted  to  Judaism.  With  the  grow- 
ing power  of  the  new  kingdom  the  religious  life  of  the 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  13 

ruling  classes  became  weakened  and  the  king  alienated 
those  people  who  had  formerly  been  the  most  zealous 
supporters  of  the  Maccabasan  rebellion.  Two  parties 
were  formed,  one  called  the  Sadducees,  after  the  High 
Priest  Zadok,  was  in  sympathy  with  the  government 
while  the  other,  the  Pharisees,  became  its  opponent. 
The  Pharisees  (separatists)  believed  in  freedom  only 
as  a  means  of  protection  of  their  religious  life,  and 
therefore  opposed  the  king,  who  wasted  the  resources 
of  the  country  in  wars  of  conquest. 

Hyrcan  was  succeeded  by  Aristobul,  his  son,  with 
whose  reign  a  period  of  family  feuds  and  palace 
intrigues  began.  He  ordered  his  brother  Antigonus  to 
be  killed  and  died  soon  afterwards,  having  reigned 
but  one  year  (105-104  B.C.).  His  successor  was  his 
brother  Alexander  Jannai  (104-78  B.C.).  The  latter's 
highest  ambition  was  to  become  a  conqueror  and  he 
carried  on  constant  but  unsuccessful  warfare  with 
Arabic  chieftains,  and  with  the  Egyptians  and  other 
neighbors.  The  people  rebelled  against  him,  but  he 
quelled  all  uprisings  with  extreme  cruelty,  and  on  one 
occasion  had  six  hundred  pilgrims  massacred  in  the 
courtyard  of  the  Temple.  The  Pharisees  were  par- 
ticularly the  objects  of  his  hatred. 

Upon  his  death  his  wife,  Salome  Alexandra,  came 
to  the  throne  (78-69  B.C.).  She  made  peace  with  the 
Pharisees,  whose  leader  Simeon  ben  Shetach  was  her 
brother,  and  her  reign  was  happier  than  that  of  her 
husband.  Upon  her  death  she  left  two  sons,  Hyrcan 
II  and  Aristobul,  of  whom  the  first  was  to  be  high 
priest,  while  the  second  was  to  be  king.  But  they 
soon  quarrelled,  and  Hyrcan,  who  was  a  tool  in  the 
hands  of  Antipater,  an  Idumsean,  his  adviser,  declared 


14  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

himself  king.  In  the  subsequent  civil  war,  Pompey, 
the  Roman  general  and  statesman,  was  asked  to  act  as 
arbitrator.  He  conquered  Jerusalem,  entered  the 
Temple,  and  declared  in  favor  of  Hyrcan,  who,  how- 
ever, was  not  made  king,  but  given  the  title  of 
Ethnarch.  Aristobul  was  sent  to  Rome  and  the  cities 
inhabited  by  Syrians  were  annexed  to  the  province  of 
Syria  (60  B.C.).  Aristobul's  son,  Alexander,  the  son- 
in-law  of  Hyrcan,  rebelled,  but  was  defeated  in  57  B.C. 
In  the  following  year  Aristobul  fled  from  Rome  and 
organized  a  rebellion,  but  was  soon  defeated  and  sent 
a  prisoner  to  Rome  with  his  son  Antigonus. 

Crassus,  governor  of  Syria,  entered  the  Temple  and 
looted  the  treasury  (54  B.  C. ) .  Shortly  afterwards  he 
fell  in  battle  and  the  Jews  rebelled  again,  but  the 
uprising  was  cruelly  suppressed,  30,000  being  sold 
into  slavery  (53  B.C.).  Caesar,  who  was  now  the  ruler 
of  Rome,  liberated  Aristobul  to  use  him  against  his 
rival  Pompey,  but  Aristobul  was  poisoned  and  his  son 
Alexander  executed  (49  B.  C. ) .  Hyrcan  and  Antipater 
joined  Caesar,  who  confirmed  the  former  as  Ethnarch 
and  bestowed  high  distinction  on  the  latter  (47  B.C.). 
Antipater's  son,  Herod,  was  made  governor  of  Galilee, 
and  as  such  executed  the  insurgent  leader,  Hezekiah, 
and  put  down  the  rebellion.  Called  before  the  San- 
hedrin  for  executing  a  citizen  without  trial,  he  defied 
the  court,  knowing  that  he  had  the  support  of  the 
Romans.  After  Caesar's  assassination  Antipater  joined 
Cassius,  but  was  himself  assassinated  (42  B.C.).  His 
sons,  however,  remained  in  power,  and  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Philippi  they  joined  Antony,  who  confirmed 
them  as  governors  (42  B.C.).  Antigonus,  the  son  of 
Aristobul,   now  returned,  assisted  by  the  Parthians, 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  15 

enemies  of  Rome,  and  was  made  high  priest,  combin- 
ing again  the  dignity  of  king  and  high  priest  (40-37 
B.  C. ) .  Herod  fled  to  Rome,  where  he  was  appointed 
King  of  the  Jews  by  the  Senate.  Returning  to  Pales- 
tine he  defeated  Antigonus  and  reigned  as  king  (37-34 
B.  C. ) .  He  married  Mariamne,  the  granddaughter  of 
Hyrcan  and  Aristobul,  and  appointed  her  brother, 
Aristobul,  as  high  priest.  Becoming  jealous  of  his 
popularity,  he  caused  him  to  be  assassinated  soon 
afterward. 

Herod's  reign  was  marked  by  its  splendor,  but  he 
was  hated  by  the  people  for  his  extreme  cruelty.  He 
had  his  wife,  Mariamne,  three  of  his  sons,  the  old 
High  Priest  Hyrcan  II,  and  various  other  members  of 
his  family,  assassinated.  His  unpopularity  grew  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  country  was  prosperous  and 
that  he  rebuilt  the  Temple  in  magnificent  style.  As  a 
descendant  of  the  Idumaeans,  whom  Hyrcan  I  had  con- 
verted to  Judaism,  he  was  considered  a  foreigner  who 
held  his  power  only  through  the  assistance  of  Rome. 
From  this  time  the  name  Edom  became  a  synonym  for 
Rome  in  Jewish  Literature. 

Herod  left  three  sons,  Archelaus,  Herod  Antipas, 
and  Philip,  among  whom  he  divided  his  empire. 
Archelaus  received  Judaea,  Samaria  and  Idumaea.  He 
was  to  reside  in  Jerusalem  and  have  the  title  of  king. 
Herod  Antipas  was  given  dominion  over  Galilee,  and 
Peraea  and  Philip  received  the  northern  district ;  both 
were  to  be  called  Tetrarchs.  In  Archelaus'  kingdom 
a  revolt  broke  out  at  once,  and  3,000  people  were 
killed  in  the  Temple  courtyard.  When  he  went  to 
Rome  to  obtain  confirmation  of  his  title  another  rebel- 
lion broke  out  because  of  the  cruelty  of  the  Roman 


16  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

commander,  and  once  more  a  great  number  of  people 
were  killed  and  the  Temple  sacked.  Governor  Varus 
was  called  from  Syria  to  quell  the  contest  and  did  so 
with  great  cruelty.  The  Roman  Emperor  Augustus 
confirmed  Archelaus  as  ruler  of  Judaea  but  refused  him 
the  title  of  king;  he  was  merely  called  Ethnarch. 
Unable  to  control  the  people,  who  hated  him,  he  was 
deposed  and  exiled  to  Gaul,  and  his  land  made  a  part 
of  the  Roman  province  of  Syria  (6  C.E.).  The  Roman 
governors  carried  on  an  arbitrary  and  oppressive  rule. 
A  census  ordered  by  Quirinius  was  bitterly  resisted 
and  almost  led  to  open  rebellion.  A  party  of  Zealots 
was  formed  under  the  leadership  of  Judah,  the  son  of 
Hezekiah,  whom  Herod  had  executed.  Their  object 
was  to  overthrow  the  Roman  rule,  and  for  this  purpose 
they  began  a  reign  of  terror  against  all  people  who 
were  supposed  to  be  in  sympathy  with  Rome,  and 
assassinations  were  of  daily  occurrence. 

One  of  the  most  cruel  of  the  Roman  governors,  Pon- 
tius Pilate  (26-36),  in  every  possible  way  provoked  the 
religious  sentiments  of  the  people,  and  on  the  slightest 
show  of  resistance,  ordered  wholesale  butcheries  of 
them.  Many  complaints  were  sent  to  Rome  and  he  was 
finally  recalled.  Under  his  administration  the  execution 
of  Jesus  is  reported  to  have  taken  place.  Emperor  Cali- 
gula (37-41),  a  typical  megalomaniac,  ordered  his  bust 
placed  in  the  Temple.  Petronius,  the  military  com- 
mander, reported  that  it  was  impossible  to  execute  this 
order  without  driving  the  people  into  open  rebellion,  and 
so  Caligula  modified  his  demand.  Only  his  assassina- 
tion prevented  an  outbreak  of  the  people.  He  was  a 
friend  of  Agrippa,  the  son  of  Aristobul,  and  the  grand- 
son of  Herod  and  Mariamne,  and  showered  his  favors 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  17 

upon  him.  Agrippa  was  first  appointed  the  successor 
of  his  uncle  Philip  with  the  title  of  king,  in  37.  Upon 
the  death  of  Herod  Antipas,  Galilee  was  added  to  his 
dominion,  and  finally  Emperor  Claudius,  upon  his 
succession  to  the  throne  in  41,  gave  him  Judaea  also, 
so  that  he  thus  obtained  the  full  heritage  of  his  grand- 
father Herod.  While  a  favorite  of  Rome,  Agrippa  was 
beloved  by  the  people,  but  he  died  in  the  prime  of  his 
life  in  44.  His  brother  Herod,  who  was  his  suc- 
cessor, possessed  no  other  right  except  to  appoint  the 
high  priest;  similarly  Agrippa's  son,  Agrippa  II, 
while  honored  with  the  title  of  king,  had  practically 
no  power.  For  at  the  death  of  Agrippa  I  Palestine 
was  again  placed  under  Roman  governors,  seven  of 
whom  held  office  from  44  to  66  and  did  their  utmost 
to  drive  the  people  into  despair  by  cruel  executions 
and  wanton  disregard  of  religious  feeling.  The  reign 
of  terror  continuing,  a  party  called  Sicarii,  from  Sica, 
a  dagger,  which  they  always  carried  under  their  gar- 
ments for  the  punishment  of  those  who  were  suspected 
of  Roman  sympathies,  arose  and  spread  anarchy  all 
through  the  land. 

The  last  of  the  governors,  Gessius  Florus,  was  the 
worst  of  all  who  held  this  office.  His  extortions  and 
murders  drove  the  people  into  despair.  Especially  in 
Caesarea,  where  the  majority  of  the  population  was 
Greek,  and  constantly  attacked  the  Jews,  he  refused  to 
grant  them  protection.  Agrippa  II  made  an  attempt 
to  pacify  the  Jews  and  persuade  them  to  send  a  com- 
mittee to  Rome,  but  without  avail.  The  daily  sacri- 
fice on  behalf  of  the  Emperor  was  discontinued  and 
open  rebellion  was  declared  (66). 

The   Jews   fortified    the   Temple,   captured   several 


18  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

Roman  forts,  including  that  of  Jerusalem,  and  Cestius 
Gallus,  the  commander  of  Syria,  wa»  defeated.  Ves- 
pasian, the  ablest  general  of  the  Roman  army,  was 
placed  in  command  and  began  the  war  in  Galilee, 
where  Flavius  Josephus,  the  famous  historian,  was  in 
command  of  the  revolutionary  forces  (67).  Josephus 
was  besieged  in  the  fortress  of  Jotapat,  and,  after 
weeks  of  hard  fighting,  surrendered.  In  the  fall  of 
67  all  of  Galilee  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Romans. 

In  68  Vespasian  conquered  the  land  east  of  the  Jor- 
dan, while  in  Jerusalem  the  reign  of  terror  continued 
and  the  Zealots  wasted  their  forces  in  a  bloody  civil 
war.  Meantime  a  revolution  had  broken  out  in  Rome 
and  Nero  had  committed  suicide  (68) .  Three  emperors 
followed  each  other  in  quick  succession  and  the  in- 
ternal troubles  caused  Vespasian  to  temporize  in  his 
warfare.  But  by  69  he  had  conquered  the  whole  land 
with  the  exception  of  Jerusalem  and  three  fortified 
cities  held  by  the  patriots.  In  this  year  he  was  pro- 
claimed Emperor  and  went  to  Rome,  leaving  the  work 
of  continuing  the  war  to  his  son  Titus. 

Titus  began  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  in  April,  70,  and 
at  once  the  internal  feuds  ceased,  the  besieged  doing 
their  utmost  to  defend  the  place.  Titus  had  to  take 
the  city  step  by  step.  Finally  on  August  10th  the 
Temple,  the  last  retreat  of  the  patriots,  was  stormed 
and  destroyed  by  fire.  Those  who  survived  intrenched 
themselves  in  the  upper  city  and  continued  their 
resistance  until  September  7th.  According  to  Jo- 
sephus, 1,100,000  perished  in  the  war  and  97,000  were 
made  captives  and  sold  as  slaves  or  taken  to  the  cir- 
cus, where  they  were  torn  to  pieces  by  wild  beasts. 
Seven  hundred,    selected  from  the   noblest   families, 


HISTORY   OF  THE   JEWS  19 

were  taken  to  Rome  to  be  shown  with  the  holy  vessels 
captured  in  the  Temple  in  the  triumphal  march.  An 
arch  of  triumph  was  erected  as  a  memorial  of  victory, 
which  is  still  standing  in  Rome.  Titus  left  the  siege 
of  the  three  remaining  fortresses  to  his  captains. 
They  spent  three  more  years  in  reducing  them,  Mas- 
sada,  the  last  one,  falling  in  73.  The  last  defenders 
of  the  place  killed  themselves  in  order  to  escape  being 
taken  alive  by  the  Romans.  Thus  the  last  vestige  of 
the  independent  Jewish  kingdom,  founded  by  the 
Maccabees,  disappeared. 


CHAPTER    II 

FROM  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  JERUSALEM  (70)  TO 
THE  COMPLETION  OF  THE  MISHNAH  (200) 

The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  had  thrown  the  Jew- 
ish people  into  a  terrible  crisis.  Although  the  Jews, 
as  individuals,  did  not  fare  worse  than  during  the  pre- 
ceding one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  Judaea  was  now 
a  province  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

The  only  new  law,  enforced  after  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  was  tha»t  of  a  special  tax  of  two  Drachmae, 
which  every  male  had  to  pay.  This  tax,  called 
"Fiscus  Judaicus, "  took  the  place  of  the  half -shekel 
formerly  paid  by  every  male  Jew  into  the  treasury  of 
the  Temple,  according  to  the  Rabbinic  interpretation 
of  the  Law  in  Exodus  xxx,  11-16.  Some  of  the  Jews 
were  sold  into  slavery;  some  went  to  Rome,  where 
they  swelled  the  congregation  existing  there  since  the 
second  century  B.C.,  and  where  they  had  several 
synagogues  and  catacombs  used  as  cemeteries.  Others 
again  emigrated  to  Babylonia,  where  a  Jewish  settle- 
ment existed  since  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by 
Nebuchadnezzar,  or  settled  on  the  northern  coast  of 
Africa,  and  on  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean. 

Under  Domitian,  the  brother  and  successor  of  Titus 
(81-96),  the  tribute  of  the  "Fiscus  Judaicus"  was 
exacted  with  great  severity.  Domitian  was  altogether 
hostile  to  the  Jews;  yet  in  his  reign  Jewish  propa- 

20 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  21 

ganda  increased  in  Rome,  and  people  belonging  to  the 
highest  class  of  society,  among  them  Flavius  Clemens, 
a  nephew  of  the  Emperor,  with  his  wife  Clementina, 
were  converted  to  Judaism.  Flavius  Clemens  was  put 
to  death  and  his  wife  exiled  for  their  change  of  faith, 
as  the  Roman  law  considered  it  a  crime,  and  called  it 
atheism.  Dio  Cassius,  the  historian  of  Rome,  speaks 
of  a  class  of  people  who  were  not  Jews  by  descent,  but 
had  adopted  the  Jewish  religion.  Similar  proofs  of 
the  existence  of  a  Jewish  propaganda  are  found  in  the 
New  Testament  (Matthew  xxiii,  25)  where  the  Phari- 
sees are  denounced  for  their  efforts  in  making  con- 
verts, and  in  the  daily  service,  composed  about  one 
hundred,  in  which  a  special  prayer  for  the  proselytes 
is  offered. 

Under  Emperor  Nerva  (96-98)  the  "Fiscus  Judaicus" 
is  said  to  have  been  abolished. 

Under  Trajan  (98-117)  serious  rebellions  of  the  Jews 
occurred  in  Egypt,  Cyprus,  Cyrene,  and  Mesopotamia. 
About  the  causes  of  the  disorder  and  the  battles  of  the 
rebellion,  we  know  nothing  definite.  It  may  be  said, 
however,  that  in  all  likelihood  oppressive  taxation, 
cruel  treatment  of  the  people  by  the  Roman  officials, 
and  the  traditional  enmity  between  the  Jews  and  the 
Greek-speaking  population  of  the  Orient  were  the 
causes  of  this  constant  friction.  Trajan  sent  his  gen- 
eral, Quietus,  to  quell  the  uprising,  and  made  him 
governor  of  Palestine.  The  insurrection  was  still  in 
progress  when  Hadrian  came  to  the  throne  (117-136). 
At  first  he  was  friendly  toward  the  Jews  and  began  to 
rebuild  the  Temple,  by  which  he  hoped  to  reconcile 
them.  This  new  Temple,  however,  was  to  be  dedi- 
cated to  the  Jupiter  of  the  Capitol,  who,  as  Hadrian 


22  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

believed,  was  also  the  God  of  the  Jews,  although  he 
had  a  different  name.  As  the  Jews,  however,  were 
not  willing  to  accept  this  condition,  Hadrian  resorted 
to  severe  religious  persecution.  He  prohibited  the 
practices  of  the  Sabbath,  circumcision,  and  the  study 
of  the  Law.  The  result  was  another  rebellion  under 
the  leadership  of  Simeon  Bar  Koziba,  who  adopted  the 
name  of  Bar  Kochba — ' '  The  Son  of  the  Star  ' ' — with 
reference  to  the  prophecy  of  the  star  which  would 
smite  the  enemies  of  Israel  (Num.  xxiv,  17).  Bar 
Kochba,  who  called  himself  Prince  of  Israel,  and  had 
coins  struck  with  his  name,  was  supported  by  a  priest, 
Eleazar  of  Modin,  and  by  Rabbi  Akiba.  Details  of 
this  war  are  unknown.  It  lasted,  however,  over  three 
years  (132-135),  and  then  was  quelled  by  Tineius 
Rufus,  and  Julius  Severus,  the  latter  having  been  called 
from  Great  Britain  to  take  some  of  the  troops  against 
the  rebels.  The  victory  was  complete.  Whatever 
had  been  left  of  Jerusalem  after  its  destruction  by 
Titus  was  destroyed.  The  city  was  called  ^lia  Capi- 
tolina,  in  honer  of  Hadrian,  whose  first  name  was 
^lius  and  in  honor  of  the  Jupiter  of  the  Capitol,  to 
whom  the  Temple,  built  on  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Temple  of  Solomon,  was  erected.  Over  one  of  the 
gates  of  the  city  Hadrian  had  the  head  of  a  swine 
placed,  and  the  Jews  were  forbidden  entrance  into  the 
city.  A  great  many  Jews  were  killed  in  battle  and 
many  prisoners,  including  the  most  prominent  spirit- 
ual leaders  of  the  rebellion,  such  as  Rabbi  Akiba,  ex- 
ecuted. A  mediaeval  legend  speaks  of  ten  martyrs, 
and  gives  a  list  which,  however,  comprises  men  who 
lived  in  different  ages. 

With  the  death  of  Hadrian,  and  the  succession  to 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  23 

the  throne  of  Marcus  Antoninus  Pius  (136-161)  a 
change  for  the  better  took  place.  We  are  informed 
that,  upon  the  representations  of  prominent  Jews, 
Antoninus  repealed  the  cruel  laws  passed  by  his  prede- 
cessor. Jewish  legends  have  preserved  the  name  of 
Antoninus  Pius  as  one  of  the  most  benign  of  rulers, 
and  they  represent  him  as  a  close  personal  friend  of 
Judah  the  Patriarch,  as  a  great  admirer  of  Judaism, 
and  even  as  a  secret  convert. 

Only  a  few  disconnected  facts  are  known  about 
the  following  emperors.  Under  Marcus  Aurelius,  the 
philosophic  author  (161-180),  who,  in  one  instance 
speaks  with  contempt  of  the  Jews,  we  hear  of  a  slave, 
named  Callistus,  sentenced  to  penal  servitude  in  the 
mines  of  Sardinia  for  having  disturbed  the  services  of 
a  synagogue. 

Under  Septimius  Severus  (193-211),  we  learn  of  the 
participation  of  the  Jews  in  a  rebellion,  and  an  edict, 
passed  in  204,  declared  conversion  to  Christianity 
from  Judaism  a  crime.  It  was  evidently  intended  to 
check  the  rapid  progress  of  Christianity.  Alexander 
Severus  (222-235)  is  said  to  have  been  very  favorable 
to  the  Jews,  and  his  mother,  ^Mammaea,  who  was 
regent  during  the  first  years  of  his  reign,  is  said  to 
have  been  favorably  inclined  toward  the  Jewish  relig- 
ion. Alexander  had  a  statue  of  Abraham  in  his  room 
and  on  the  wall  was  inscribed  the  famous  saying  of 
Hillel,  "What  is  hateful  unto  thee,  do  not  unto  thy 
neighbor."  The  Jews  of  Rome  had  a  synagogue 
which  was  named  the  Synagogue  of  Severus  in  his 
honor;  he  presented  to  it  a  scroll  of  the  Torah  which 
had  been  brought  from  Jerusalem.  The  mobs  in 
Alexandria    and    Antioch,  ever   hostile   to   the  Jews, 


24  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

called  him  Archysynagogos,  "leader  of  the  Syna- 
gogue." 

The  spiritual  life  of  the  Jews,  after  the  destruction 
of  the  Temple,  received  its  strongest  impetus  from 
Johanan  ben  Zakkai,  in  Jabneh  (Jamnia),  whom  legend 
makes  a  disciple  of  Hillel  and  a  member  of  the  San- 
hedrin  in  Jerusalem  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of 
the  Temple.  Legend  further  says  that  he  succeeded 
in  escaping  from  Jerusalem  during  the  siege  at  a  time 
when  the  Zealots  in  the  city  would  not  allow  any  one 
to  leave  it,  and  that  he  came  to  Vespasian,  to  whom 
he  prophesied  his  elevation  to  the  throne  of  Rome,  for 
which,  out  of  gratitude,  the  latter  allowed  him  to 
open  a  school  and  establish  a  Sanhedrin  in  Jabneh. 
At  any  rate,  Jabneh  became  the  spiritual  centre  of 
Judaism  at  that  time.  Various  ordinances,  which 
Johanan  ben  Zakkai  issued,  show  his  desire  to  har- 
monize ancient  traditions  with  the  conditions  as  they 
developed  after  the  destruction  of  the  Temple.  Thus, 
it  is  understood  that  he  ordered  the  Shofar  to  be  blown 
in  Jabneh,  even  if  New  Year  fell  on  a  Sabbath ;  this 
formerly  had  been  done  only  in  the  Temple  at  Jeru- 
salem. 

His  successor  was  Gamaliel,  usually  called  "Gama- 
liel II,  Gamaliel  the  elder,  or  Gamaliel  of  Jabneh 
(100-130).  He  was  the  great-great-grandson  of  the 
famous  Hillel,  who,  according  to  tradition,  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Sanhedrin  during  the  time  of  King  Herod 
(Hillel,  Simeon,  Gamaliel,  Simeon,  Gamaliel).  In  the 
work  of  harmonizing  tradition  with  the  exigencies  of 
the  time,  Gamaliel  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Johanan 
ben  Zakkai.  His  main  activities  consisted  in  the 
organization  of  public  worship.     To  him  is  ascribed 


HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS  25 

the  introduction  of  the  daily  prayer  (Tefillah),  the 
eighteen  benedictions  (Shemoneh  Esreh),  to  which 
later  in  his  life  he  added  one  more,  containing  a  peti- 
tion against  sectaries  (Minim).  He  also  composed  the 
grace  after  meals,  and  the  Passover  Haggadah.  He 
further  endeavored,  in  all  possible  ways,  to  strengthen 
the  authority  of  the  President  or  Nasi  or  Ab  Beth  Din 
of  the  Sanhedrin,  especially  by  claiming  for  himself 
the  exclusive  right  to  fix  the  calendar.  In  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  law  he  took  a  lenient  attitude,  insist- 
ing more  on  the  spirit  than  on  the  letter. 

Opponents  of  his  hierarchical  tendencies  were  Eliezer 
ben  Hyrkanos  and  Joshua  ben  Hananiah;  Akiba  occu- 
pied an  undecided  position  between  the  two  parties. 
Eliezer,  who  seems  to  have  been  favorably  inclined 
toward  Christianity,  objected  to  a  fixed  ritual,  but 
otherwise  was  rigorous  in  his  interpretation  of  the 
law,  and  a  firm  believer  in  the  authority  of  tradition. 
From  obscure  reports  we  learn  that  he  was  excom- 
municated by  Gamaliel,  his  brother-in-law.  Joshua 
was  strongly  opposed  to  Christianity,  and  to  the  hier- 
archical tendencies  of  Gamaliel,  and  his  harsh  treat- 
ment by  the  latter  caused  opposition,  with  the  result 
that  Gamaliel  was  removed  from  office  and  Eleazer 
ben  Azariah  appointed  in  his  place.  But  later  on  a 
reconciliation  took  place,  and  Gamaliel  was  rein- 
stated. 

Akiba,  the  disciple  of  Eliezer,  was  the  strictest 
opponent  of  Christianity,  and  especially  of  the  prin- 
ciple which  declares  that  the  law  is  merely  a  symbol, 
and  also  of  the  demand  that  the  Jews  give  up  their 
national  distinctiveness.  His  opposition  to  the  sym- 
bolic interpretation  of  the  law  led  him  into  its  literal 


26  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

interpretation,  based  on  the  view  that  every  word  and 
letter  of  the  Torah  must  be  explained  independently  of 
the  context.  He  was  also  a  zealous  advocate  of 
Israel's  national  independence,  and  so  became  the 
spiritual  leader  of  the  Bar  Kochba  rebellion.  When 
he  said,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself; 
this  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Torah, ' '  he 
probably  gave  expression  to  his  nationalistic  senti- 
ments. Evidently  in  order  to  accentuate  the  univer- 
sality of  Judaism,  Simeon  ben  Azai,  Akiba's  contem- 
porary, says  that  the  words,  ' '  This  is  the  book  of  the 
generation  of  Adam,"  are  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Torah.  Rabbi  Akiba's  principle  of  interpret- 
ing the  Torah  was  opposed  by  his  contemporary, 
Rabbi  Ishmael,  who  says  the  Torah  speaks  the  lan- 
guage of  men ;  that  is,  every  text  must  be  explained 
by  its  context.  An  important  figure  of  that  time 
seems  to  have  been  Elisha  ben  Abuyah,  who  is  called 
Acher  the  Apostate.  The  stories  told  of  him  are 
legendary  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  impossible  to 
know  how  much,  if  any,  historical  fact  underlies 
them. 

The  uprising  of  Bar  Kochba  and  the  subsequent  pro- 
hibition of  the  study  of  law  interrupted,  for  a  while, 
the  development  of  religious  doctrine.  Soon,  how- 
ever, after  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  Antoninus 
Pius,  in  136,  the  study  of  the  law  was  resumed.  A 
synod  of  prominent  rabbis,  who  were  mostly  disciples 
of  Akiba,  met  at  Usha,  and  passed  several  resolutions, 
mostly  in  regard  to  civil  law,  required  by  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  time.  One  of  these  provides  that  every 
one  shall  give  one-fifth  of  his  income  to  charity,  thus 
diverting  the  two  tithes  formerly  devoted  to  the  sac- 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  27 

rificial  needs,  the  Levites  or  the  poor,  to  communal 
requirements.  Another  resolution  declared  that  every 
father  was  under  the  duty  of  providing  for  his  son 
until  the  latter  was  twelve  years  old.  The  spiritual 
leaders  of  this  age  were  Rabbi  Meir,  Judah  bar  Ilai, 
and  Jose  bar  Halafta,  and  the  office  of  Nasi  was  given 
to  Gamaliel's  son,  Simeon  ben  Gamaliel  II  (140-170). 
The  latter  was  in  turn  succeeded  by  his  son,  Judah 
Hanasi,  called  Rabbi,  or  Rabbenu-Hakadosh,  who 
according  to  a  legend  was  born  on  the  day  on  which 
Rabbi  Akiba  died  (135-216).  To  him  is  due  the  com- 
pilation of  the  Mishnah  or  compendium  of  the  Rab- 
binic law. 

The  word  Mishnah  is  derived  from  Mishneh  Torah 
(repetition  of  the  law),  the  name  of  Deuteronomy. 
This  compilation  was  preceded  by  others  on  a  smaller 
scale  which  we  do  not  possess.  They  are  called,  after 
their  authors,  the  Mishnah  of  Rabbi  Akiba,  that  of 
Rabbi  Meir,  and  that  of  Rabbi  Nathan.  The  object 
of  the  code  compiled  by  Judah  Hanasi  was  to  collect 
the  whole  of  the  Rabbinic  law.  The  authorities 
quoted  in  the  Mishnah  are  called  Tanaim,  from  wn, 
which  is  the  Aramaic,  for  rui",  the  latter  being  a 
word  derived  from  Mishnah.  The  Mishnah  was  not 
intended  to  be  a  code  of  the  law  but  a  compendium 
for  its  study.  It  was  soon,  however,  accepted  as  an 
infallible  book  of  laws,  and  believed  to  be  based  on 
early  tradition  dating  back  to  Moses  himself. 


CHAPTER   III 
ERA    OF    THE    TALMUD    (200-600) 

The  constant  progress  made  by  Christianity  in  Pal- 
estine had  an  unfavorable  effect  on  the  condition  of 
the  Jewish  population  and  the  Jews  began  to  emigrate 
to  Babylonia  in  constantly  growing  numbers.  The 
latter  country  had,  in  the  meantime,  passed  from  the 
rule  of  the  Parthians  to  that  of  the  neo-Persians,  or 
Parsees  (225) .  These  having  thrown  off  the  yoke  of 
foreign  invaders,  acted  like  others  under  similar  con- 
ditions and  introduced  a  government  marked  by  relig- 
ious and  national  fanaticism,  from  which  the  Jews 
suffered  very  severely.  The  Parsees,  who  worshipped 
fire,  would  not  allow  the  Jews  to  have  any  light  on 
the  Sabbath  during  their  period  of  mourning,  which 
comprised  the  shortest  winter  days,  and  consequently 
the  Hanukah  lights  were  also  forbidden.  Another 
prohibition,  which  the  Jews  especially  resented,  was 
directed  against  the  burial  of  the  dead,  not  allowed 
by  the  religion  of  the  Parsees. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Roman  Empire,  passing  more 
and  more  under  Christian  rule ;  became  hostile  toward 
the  Jews.  Of  Diocletian  (284-305)  it  is  reported  that, 
while  he  tried  to  suppress  Christianity,  he  allowed  the 
Jews  freedom  of  worship.  Another  story  reported  of 
him,  to  the  effect  that  he  ordered  Judah  Hanasi  to 
appear  before  him  on  the  Sabbath,  wishing  to  punish 

28 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  29 

him  for  the  insult  he  had  suffered  from  Jewish  boys, 
while  a  swineherd,  is  evidently  legendary.  Constan- 
tine  (305-337),  who  removed  all  the  disabilities  from 
which  the  Christians  had  suffered,  and  according  to 
some  authors,  a  professing  Christian  himself,  issued 
the  first  edict  which  discriminated  against  the  Jews. 
This  law  prohibited  the  circumcision  of  a  slave,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  intended  to  check  propa- 
ganda for  Judaism. 

Julian  the  Apostate  (361-363),  who  wished  to  sup- 
press Christianity  and  attempted  to  reintroduce  a 
refined  worship  of  the  old  gods,  is  said  to  have  at- 
tempted to  rebuild  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.  The 
church  historians  tell  us  that  an  earthquake  and  simi- 
lar accidents  made  this  impossible.  It  is,  however, 
not  unlikely  that  the  whole  report  was  merely  an 
invention  to  show  that  the  Temple  could  never  be 
rebuilt,  and  that  all  attempts  to  fight  Christianity 
must  be  vain. 

The  discrimination  against  the  Jews  became  stronger 
when  Theodosius  issued  the  edict  of  Ravenna  (380), 
which  made  the  profession  of  Christianity  a  require- 
ment for  all  who  held  office  under  the  government. 
After  the  death  of  Theodosius  the  Roman  Empire  was 
divided  into  an  Eastern  and  a  Western  Empire.  Pal- 
estine and  the  majority  of  the  Jews  were  in  the  Eastern 
Empire,  with  its  capital  at  Constantinople ;  and  they 
remained  subject  to  this  rule  until  the  Holy  Land  was 
conquered  by  the  Mohammedans  in  634. 

The  legal  treatment  of  the  Jews,  in  both  divisions 
of  the  Empire,  was  hostile,  but  the  authorities  tried 
to  protect  their  lives  and  properties  against  the  con- 
stantly increasing  attacks  of  the  mob.     Such  outbreaks 


30  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

occurred  especially  in  the  Greek  cities  of  the  Orient. 
Cyril,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  St.  Simeon,  the 
Stylite,  who  for  years  lived  on  a  pillar,  stirred  up  the 
religious  fanaticism  of  the  masses  by  setting  them 
against  the  Jews.  These  attacks  resulted  in  loss  of 
life  and  property,  and  when  the  emperors  issued 
orders  demanding  the  punishment  of  the  lawless  ele- 
ments, the  ecclesiastic  leaders  condemned  this  action 
as  the  evidence  of  partiality  toward  the  Jews.  Under 
Emperor  Justinian  (527-565)  we  hear  for  the  first 
time  of  an  interference  with  the  internal  religious  life 
of  the  Jews  by  the  secular  authorities.  An  edict  of 
this  Emperor  prohibited  the  reading  of  the  Deuterosis 
in  the  synagogue.  The  word  is  a  literal  translation 
of  the  word  Mishnah,  but  as  the  Mishnah  could  not 
have  been  read  in  the  synagogue,  we  must  assume 
that  other  Rabbinic  works  or  the  Targum  are  meant. 

The  Byzantine  Empire  frequently  had  wars  with  its 
Persian  neighbor,  and  one  of  these  which  threatened 
to  be  very  critical  occurred  under  Emperor  Heraclius 
(622-628).  In  this,  the  Jews  at  first  sided  with  the 
Persians,  but  when  the  Emperor  on  his  way  to  the 
East  appeared  in  Palestine,  he  promised  them  an  am- 
nesty if  they  would  join  his  cause.  This  they  did. 
On  his  return  he  broke  his  pledge,  the  monks  assuring 
him  of  the  divine  pardon  for  this  breach  of  faith,  and 
punished  the  Jews  severely  for  their  defection. 

RELIGIOUS    HISTORY    OF    THE    ERA 

The  position  of  the  patriarch  remained  hereditary 
in  the  house  of  Judah  Hanasi,  until  the  office  was  abol- 
ished by  the  decree  of  Emperor  Theodosius  II  (about 
420).     The  successors  of  Judah  Hanasi  were  Gamaliel 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  31 

III,  Judah  II,  Gamaliel  IV,  Judah  III,  Hillel  II,  Gama- 
liel V,  Judah  IV,  and  Gamaliel  VI.  These  patriarchs, 
however,  were  not  prominent  as  scholars,  and  while 
they  were  the  religious  heads  of  the  community,  the 
prerogatives  of  the  president  of  the  school  of  Tiberias 
were  transferred  to  a  scholar  of  prominence.  Thus 
Judah  Hanasi  himself  appointed  his  son  Gamaliel  as 
his  successor  before  his  death,  but  Rabbi  Hanina  was 
named  as  president  of  the  school.  It  is  probable  that 
the  head  of  this  school  presided  also  over  the  court 
sessions,  so  that  he  was  the  Ab  Beth  Din ;  the  Nasi, 
who  formerly  exercised  these  prerogatives,  was  the 
representative  of  the  Jewish  community  only  through 
the  dignity  of  his  office. 

Prominent  among  the  disciples  of  Hanina  were 
Johanan  bar  Nappaha,  Simeon  ben  Lakish,  and  Eleazar 
bar  Padath  (250-280).  Even  at  this  period  the  Mish- 
nah  was  already  considered  revealed  law,  which 
the  teacher  could  only  explain,  but  not  alter.  We 
therefore  very  often  find  their  names  in  the  Tal- 
mud at  the  head  of  discussions  of  a  passage  in  the 
Mishnah.  They  introduced  the  period  of  the  Pales- 
tinian Amoraim,  as  the  scholars  following  the  era  of 
the  Mishnah  are  called  in  contradistinction  to  the 
teachers  of  the  Mishnah,  known  as  Tanaim.  To  the 
school  of  Johanan  belong  all  prominent  Palestinian 
rabbis  of  the  succeeding  generation.  Prominent  among 
them  is  Abbahu  of  Caesarea.  He  is  known  not  merely 
as  an  expounder  of  the  law  but  as  a  controversialist 
against  Christianity. 

Tiberias  continued  to  be  the  center  of  Jewish  spirit- 
ual life,  and  quite  a  number  of  young  scholars  from 
Babylonia  came  there  to  finish  their  studies;  some  of 


32  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

them  remained  in  Palestine.  Of  the  teachers  of  the 
fourth  century,  little  more  than  their  names  is  known. 
Prominently  mentioned,  however,  is  Rabbi  Jose,  to 
whom  is  ascribed  the  final  redaction  of  the  Palestin- 
ian Talmud  (350).  At  about  this  time  Hillel  II  gave 
up  the  only  tangible  privilege  of  the  Nasi,  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  calendar.  Instead  of  announcing 
the  leap-year  whenever  it  was  necessary  to  postpone 
the  Passover,  fixed  rules  for  the  calendar  were  made. 
By  this  arrangement  it  became  necessary  to  keep  the 
second  holydays,  which  had  been  celebrated  in  those 
places  the  messengers  of  the  Nasi  could  not  reach  in 
time.  Hillel  ruled,  however,  that  this  practice  had 
become  hallowed  by  tradition,  and  that  even  hence- 
forth the  Jews  living  outside  of  Palestine  should  con- 
tinue to  celebrate  two  holydays. 

When  finally  the  office  of  patriarch  was  abolished, 
Palestine  lost  its  place  as  the  spiritual  center  of 
Judaism.  The  study  of  the  law  declined,  and  from 
the  middle  of  the  fourth  century  we  find  in  Palestine 
studies  confined  to  homiletical  and  exegetical  works, 
due  in  part  to  the  controversies  with  the  Christians. 
Some  of  their  greatest  teachers,  such  as  Jerome,  the 
translator  of  the  Bible  into  Latin,  were  disciples  of 
Palestinian  rabbis.  Of  the  homiletical  explanations 
collections  were  made;  these  are  called  Midrash.  The 
oldest  of  these  collections  is  the  Midrash  Rabba  to 
Genesis,  comp; 'ed  in  the  seventh  century. 

BABYLONIA 

[  ,  Although  in  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  Ezra  is  already 
mentioned  as  an  expounder  of  the  law,  who  had  come 
from  Babylon,  although  Hillel  is  said  to  have  arrived 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  33 

in  Palestine  also  from  Babylon  in  the  first  century 
B.C.  with  a  reputation  for  scholarship,  and  although 
Judah  Hanasi  is  quoted  as  having  said  that  the  only 
man  whose  superiority  he  acknowledged  was  Huna, 
the  Exilarch  of  Babylon,  we  find  no  distinct  traces  of 
literary  activity  in  Babylon  until  the  third  century. 
At  that  time  two  men  were  prominent  as  scholars: 
Abba  Areka,  called  Rab,  and  Samuel.  Both  had 
spent  some  time  in  Palestine,  studying  under  Judah 
Hanasi.  Rab  was  a  member  of  the  committee  which 
assisted  Judah  Hanasi  in  the  compilation  of  the  Mish- 
nah.  Before  he  left  Palestine,  he  was  ordained  by 
Judah  Hanasi  somewhat  restrictedly,  because  it  was  a 
rule  that  the  full  prerogatives  of  the  members  of  the 
Sanhedrin  could  not  be  exercised  outside  of  the  Holy 
Land.  Probably  for  this  reason  Judah  Hanasi  refused 
to  confer  ordination  upon  Samuel.  Rab  taught  in 
Sura,  and  Samuel  in  Nehardea.  Both  these  places 
were  for  centuries  the  seats  of  prominent  schools. 

At  this  time,  Rab  was  considered  the  greatest 
authority  on  ritual  law,  while  Samuel  was  considered 
learned  in  civil  law.  Rab's  decisions  are  character- 
ized by  rigorous  interpretation  of  the  law,  especially 
as  to  Passover.  Samuel  accommodated  himself  more 
to  the  spirit  of  the  times.  From  him  we  have  the 
famous  decision  which  makes  the  civil  law  of  the 
country  binding  upon  the  Israelites  as  a  religious  obli- 
gation. He  also  partly  abolished  those  laws  of  the 
Sabbatical  year  which  had  become  obsolete,  such  as 
the  cancellation  of  debts.  He  also  declared  that  the 
celebration  of  the  second  holydays  was  unnecessary. 
He  further  laid  down  the  principle  that  the  Messianic 
prophecy  merely  meant  the  political  independence  of 


34  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

the  Jews,    and    not  a  change   in   the  condition  of 
humanity. 

To  the  next  generation  (250-300)  belong  Nahman 
bar  Jacob,  who  reformed  the  legal  procedure  by  intro- 
ducing an  oath  in  cases  where  formerly  no  oath  had 
been  necessary,  Huna,  Hisda,  Shesheth  and  Judah  bar 
Ezekiel,  the  last  of  whom  was  the  founder  of  the  new 
school  of  Pumbeditha,  subsequently  the  most  promi- 
nent of  all  Babylonian  schools  existing  until  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eleventh  century.  The  characteristics  of 
this  age  were  the  growth  of  dialecticism,  Pilpul,  and 
the  neglect  of  Biblical  studies.  To  the  succeeding 
generation  belong  Rabba  bar  Nahmani  and  Rab  Jo- 
seph. The  latter  is  known  as  the  author  or  compiler 
of  the  Aramaic  translation  of  the  prophets  (Targum), 
more  a  paraphrase  than  a  translation. 

In  the  succeeding  generation  we  have  (350-380)  Abaje 
and  Raba,  whose  teachings  are  quoted  as  the  most 
pronounced  type  of  keen  dialecticism.  The  most  im- 
portant of  Babylonian  Amoraim  is  Rab  Ashe  (350-431) 
who  compiled  the  commentaries  and  the  discourses  on 
the  Mishnah,  and  so  became,  with  his  successor  Rabina 
(died  499),  the  compilers  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud. 
The  successors  of  these  teachers  are  called  Saboraim 
(reasoners).  Of  their  chronology  and  work  we  know 
nothing  with  exactness  except  that  they  lived  during 
the  sixth  and  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventh  century. 
They  arranged  the  subject-matter  of  the  Talmud, 
which  they  divided  into  chapters  and  to  which  they 
added  some  explanatory  remarks. 


CHAPTER   IV 

FROM   THE    RISE    OF    ISLAM   (622)   TO    THE    ERA 
OF   THE    CRUSADES    (1096) 

Jews  had  been  living  in  Arabia  long  before  the  time 
of  Mohammed,  perhaps  as  early  as  the  pre-Christian 
era.  Their  mode  of  life  was  like  that  of  the  Arabs. 
They  were  divided  into  tribes,  and  had  fortified  places 
to  which  they  retreated  in  case  of  feuds  with  their 
Arab  neighbors.  Like  the  Arabs  they  had  their  war- 
riors, who  were  at  the  same  time  poets.  A  famous 
man  from  the  time  preceding  Mohammed  is  Samuel 
ibn  Adijah.  He  is  known  among  the  Arabs  as  a 
faithful  friend,  because  when  an  Arab  chieftain,  one  of 
his  friends,  sought  refuge  in  his  fortress,  he  allowed 
his  son,  who  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  to  be 
killed  rather  than  deliver  the  fugitive  into  their  hands. 

Mohammed  had  frequent  intercourse  with  the  Jews, 
and  received  from  them  the  first  impetus  to  found  a 
new  religion  in  place  of  the  crude  worship  of  the  old 
Arabs.  He  laid  particular  stress  on  converting  the 
Jews  to  the  new  religion,  which  was  to  be  a  universal 
theocracy.  For  this  purpose  he  adopted  some  of  the 
Jewish  ideas,  customs,  and  modes  of  worship,  the 
strict  monotheistic  idea,  the  fast  of  Yom  Kippur  and 
the  turning  toward  Jerusalem  in  prayer.  The  Jews, 
however,  were  offended  at  his  sensuality,  and  ridi- 
culed  him   for  his  ignorance.     He  therefore  became 

35 


36  HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS 

their  enemy,  and  after  the  capture  of  one  of  their 
forts,  killed  the  inhabitants  who  had  surrendered.  All 
other  Jews  were  expelled  from  Arabia,  which  was  to 
be  a  theocratically  governed  state,  where  only  the 
religion  of  Mohammed  would  be  tolerated. 

Under  Mohammed's  successors,  the  Caliphs,  Islam 
rapidly  spread  over  a  great  part  of  Asia  and  the  theo- 
cratic principle  could  not  be  maintained.  Under 
Omar  (634-644),  who  conquered  Jerusalem  in  637,  a 
law  called  the  Covenant  of  Omar  governing  the  treat- 
ment of  non-Mohammedans  was  proclaimed.  By  this 
law  the  Jews  had  to  pay  a  poll-tax,  and  were  exempt 
from  military  service.  In  spite  of  certain  disabilities, 
they  enjoyed  a  relative  state  of  freedom,  and,  as  the 
literature  of  the  period  proves,  greeted  the  rise  of 
Islam  as  a  relief  from  the  oppression  they  had  suffered 
in  Christian  countries  and  in  Persia.  They  also 
looked  upon  Islam  as  the  first  step  toward  the  reali- 
zation of  the  Messianic  kingdom.  The  improvement 
of  their  condition  was  especially  manifest  in  Spain, 
which  was  conquered  by  the  Mohammedans  in  711. 

GERMANIC    NATIONS 

Beginning  with  the  fourth  century,  various  Ger- 
manic tribes  settled  on  the  soil  of  the  old  Roman 
Empire,  and  began  to  establish  independent  kingdoms 
in  the  fifth  century  within  its  limits,  until  in  476  the 
last  Emperor,  who  was  a  ruler  in  name  only,  was 
deposed.  In  Italy,  where  Theodoric  had  founded  the 
kingdom  of  the  Ostrogoths  in  493,  the  Jews  were 
fairly  treated,  although  Theodoric,  a  fanatical  Chris- 
tian, considered  the  Jews  an  undesirable  element.  He 
would,  however,  allow  no  injustice  to  be  done  them, 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  37 

and  when  a  mob  in  Ravenna  destroyed  a  synagogue 
in  519,  he  ordered  the  city  to  make  restitution;  for  this 
he  was  severely  censured  by  Ambrosius,  the  Bishop  of 
Milan.  The  Jews  held  the  rule  of  the  Goths  to  be 
preferable  to  that  of  the  Byzantines,  and  in  the  war 
between  these  two  powers,  which  ended  with  the 
overthrow  of  the  Gothic  kingdom  (555)  they  aided 
the  former,  and  their  bravery  in  defending  the  city 
of  Naples  was  highly  praised  by  Greek  historians. 

After  a  short  period  of  domination  by  the  Byzan- 
tines, the  Longobards,  another  German  tribe,  con- 
quered Italy  in  568.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  taken 
any  interest  in  the  Jews,  as  their  government  was 
restricted  to  members  of  their  own  nationality.  The 
Jews,  as  Roman  citizens,  were  under  the  authority  of 
the  Roman  government,  which,  as  the  Byzantines  could 
not  exercise  any  authority,  was  left  almost  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  highest  local 
dignitary.  From  the  records  of  this  period,  we  pos- 
sess information  as  to  the  attitude  of  Pope  Gregory  I 
(590-604),  in  dealing  with  Jewish  affairs.  While  nat- 
urally not  in  sympathy  with  the  Jews,  he  insisted  that 
they  be  treated  fairly.  Thus,  he  ordered  that  a  cross, 
which  a  Jewish  convert  to  Christianity  had  placed  in  a 
synagogue  to  spite  the  Jews,  be  removed,  and  when 
a  synagogue  had  been  converted  into  a  church,  he 
ordered  an  indemnity  paid  to  its  former  owners.  But 
he  very  often  censured  the  Frankish  kings  for  allow- 
ing the  Jews  to  hold  public  offices  and  to  keep  Chris- 
tian slaves. 

FRANCE 

The  Merovingian  kings  who  conquered  Ancient 
Gaul  in  496  were  the  first  of  the  Germanic  rulers  to 


38  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

adopt  the  Roman  Catholic  religion.  All  the  others 
were  Arians.  In  the  sixth  century  they  treated  the 
Jews  kindly ;  we  hear  of  a  Jew  named  Priscus,  a  fa- 
vorite of  King  Hilperic  (561-584),  whom  that  king 
loved  so  well  that  he  wished  him  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity. On  one  occasion  Priscus  discussed  religious 
problems  very  freely  in  the  presence  of  the  King,  with 
Bishop  Gregory  of  Tours,  and  criticized  Christian 
dogmas  fearlessly.  In  spite  of  the  representations  of 
Pope  Gregory  I,  the  Frankish  kings  entrusted  the  Jews 
with  offices,  such  as  tax  collector,  and  allowed  them 
to  deal  in  Christian  slaves.  Church  councils,  how- 
ever, as  early  as  the  fifth  century,  legislated  against 
social  intercourse  between  Christians  and  Jews. 

SPAIN 

The  Visigoths,  who  ruled  over  Spain,  treated  the 
Jews  worse  than  any  other  nation  at  that  time.  All 
the  mediaeval  disabilities,  such  as  the  seclusion  of  the 
Jews  in  certain  quarters  and  the  restriction  of  their 
worship,  had  their  origin  in  that  country.  Frequently 
we  hear  of  a  law  prohibiting  the  holding  of  Christian 
slaves  by  Jews.  Repeatedly  Jews  were  converted  by 
force,  and  occasionally  whole  communities  expelled. 
Bishop  Isidore  of  Seville  (560-630)  wrote  a  book 
entitled  "Against  the  Jews,"  which  was  widely  read 
and  translated  into  different  languages.  His  example 
was  imitated  in  later  times.  In  the  Frankish  king- 
dom, Agobard,  Archbishop  of  Lyons  (814-840),  wrote 
five  books  on  the  Jews,  the  titles  of  which  show  his 
animus:  "On  the  Insolence  of  the  Jews,"  "On  the 
Necessity  of  Guarding  Against  Having  Company  with 
Jews,"  etc.     He  opposed  the  law  which  prohibited  the 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  39 

baptism  of  heathenish  slaves  owned  by  Jews  and  agi- 
tated for  their  social  seclusion.  Similar  was  the  liter- 
ary activity  of  Amolo,  Archbishop  of  Lyons  (841-852), 
who  wrote  a  book  against  the  Jews  and  dedicated  it 
to  Emperor  Charles  III. 

Charlemagne  (768-814)  is  reported  to  have  called 
Kalonymus  of  Lucca  to  Mayence  as  chief  rabbi  of  all 
the  Jews  of  Germany;  but  this  report  is  legendary. 
Equally  unauthentic  are  laws  ascribed  to  Charlemagne, 
among  them  the  one  imposing  upon  the  Jews  an  igno- 
minious form  of  oath.  A  law  of  Charlemagne's  son 
Louis  (814-840),  required  the  markets  to  be  held  on 
Sundays  in  order  to  make  it  possible  for  the  Jews  to 
attend  them. 

The  Jews  in  those  days  were  chiefly  traders,  import- 
ers of  merchandise  from  foreign  lands,  and  slave 
dealers,  and  acted  as  the  pioneers  of  commerce  in  the 
countries  of  Western  and  Northern  Europe. 

LITERARY  ACTIVITY  OF  THE  PERIOD 

The  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  Jews  of 
Spain,  which  began  with  the  Arabic  conquest  of  that 
country  in  711,  made  itself  felt  in  their  literary  ac- 
tivity. Especially  was  this  the  case  in  the  Caliphate 
of  Cordova,  under  Abderrahman  (912-961).  At  his 
court,  Hasdai  ibn  Shaprut  rose  to  prominence,  and, 
like  the  Mohammedan  nobles  of  the  time,  gathered 
around  him  a  number  of  eminent  authors  and  schol- 
ars. Among  them  were  Menahem  ben  Saruk  and 
Dunash  ibn  Labrat,  who  first  laid  the  foundation  for 
a  scientific  Hebrew  grammar.  Their  disciples  were 
Judah  Hayug  and  Mervan  ibn  Ganah,  called  Marinus. 
The  center  of  Jewish  learning  still  remained  in  Baby- 


40  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

Ionia,  where,  after  the  conquest  of  the  Persians  by  the 
Mohammedans,  a  revival  of  learning  took  place. 

The  two  principal  schools  were  those  of  Sura  and 
Pumbeditha,  and  at  the  head  of  each  was  a  president, 
NnTDD  B>n.  The  one  at  Sura  was  the  higher  in  rank, 
and  was  called  Gaon  (excellency),  a  title  which  later 
was  transferred  to  the  president  of  the  school  in  Pumbe- 
ditha. The  function  of  the  Gaon  was  to  preside  over 
the  regular  course  of  studies,  Sidra,  and  the  popular 
extension  course  called  Kalla,  held  twice  a  year  in  the 
months  preceding  the  Passover  and  the  fall  festivals. 
He  further  rendered  decisions  in  important  cases  sub- 
mitted to  him  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  A  num- 
ber of  collections  of  these  decisions  called  Teshubot 
(Responsa),  have  come  down  to  us.  They  are  written 
partly  in  Aramaic  and  partly  in  Arabic,  according  to 
the  language  in  which  the  question  was  written. 

The  Gaon  licensed  rabbis,  or  judges,  as  they  were 
called,  because  their  chief  function  was  to  act  as 
judges  in  civil  cases.  These  licenses  were  endorsed 
by  the  Exilarch,  Resh  Galutha,  the  political  head  of 
the  communities  in  Babylonia,  representing  them  be- 
fore the  government  and  appointing  the  Gaon.  The 
former,  in  turn,  was  appointed  by  the  Caliph,  and  his 
office  was  hereditary  as  a  rule.  The  oldest  literary 
works  of  the  period  are  collections  of  laws  regarding 
matters  of  frequent  occurrence,  such  as  liturgy, 
mourning,  the  reception  of  proselytes,  etc.  They  are 
known  as  the  "Small  Tractates,"  and  are  usually 
found  in  the  ninth  volume  of  our  editions  of  the 
Talmud. 

Other  compendia  of  the  law  are  the  Halakot  Gedo- 
lot  by  Simeon  Kayara,  written  in  the  eighth  century, 


HISTORY  OF   THE  JEWS  41 

and  the  Sheeltot  of  Ahai  of  Shabha,  the  latter  arranged 
according  to  the  Pentateuch,  and  containing  some 
moral  lessons  besides  the  legal  exposition  of  the  text. 
The  compilation  of  these  works  was  opposed  by  the 
Gaonim,  who  considered  them  injurious  to  the  study 
of  the  law  and  detrimental  to  their  own  authority. 

In  the  ninth  century  the  first  Talmudic  dictionary 
"p"iy  was  written  by  Zemah  Gaon.  His  work  has  not 
come  down  to  us,  but  most  of  it  was  incorporated  in 
the  Talmudic  dictionary  of  the  same  name,  written  by 
Nathan  of  Rome  in  the  eleventh  century.  The  title 
has  also  been  retained  by  subsequent  compilers  of 
Talmudic  dictionaries,  including  the  Aruch  Comple- 
tum,  edited  by  Alexander  Kohut  (1878-1892).  At 
the  same  time  Amram  Gaon  compiled  the  first  liturgy, 
Seder  Rab  Amram,  and  thus  is  the  originator  of  our 
present  prayer-book.  The  form  in  which  this  com- 
pilation has  come  down  to  us  is  not  as  the  original 
left  the  hands  of  its  editor,  for  quite  a  number  of  later 
texts  are  found  in  it  and  its  order  of  services  is  not 
exactly  identical  with  any  of  the  rituals  in  use  at 
present.  Still,  it  is  the  groundwork  of  the  liturgy  of 
Judaism  to-day  all  over  the  world. 

From  the  same  period  dates,  probably,  the  first  Kab- 
alistic  book  which  we  possess,  the  "Sefer  Yezirah" 
(Book  of  Creation).  It  may  be  called  a  theosophical 
treatise,  written  in  the  language  and  form  of  the  Mish- 
nah,  and  based  on  the  philosophy  of  the  Pythagorean 
and  Alexandrian  schools.  Its  subject-matter  naturally 
makes  it  obscure ;  from  the  tenth  century  at  least  it 
has  been  commented  upon.  Legend  has  ascribed  its 
authorship  to  Rabbi  Akiba,  and  even  to  Biblical  per- 
sons such  as  Abraham. 


42  HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS 

In  the  ninth  century  we  meet  the  first  traces  of  a 
scientific  literature.  Prominent  here  is  Saadya  Gaon 
(892-942),  born  in  Fayum,  and  called  to  Sura  as 
Gaon,  quite  an  unusual  event.  His  literary  activity 
extends  over  the  whole  field  of  Jewish  literature.  He 
wrote  commentaries  on  the  Bible  besides  an  Arabic 
translation,  and  on  Talmudic  topics.  He  also  com- 
posed religious  hymns,  but  the  most  important  of  all 
his  works  is  his  mjni  mJlOK  (Dogma  and  Science),  the 
first  attempt  at  a  scientific  apology  for  Judaism  from 
a  philosophical  point  of  view.  His  independence 
brought  him  into  conflict  with  the  Exilarch  David  ben 
Zakkai,  to  whose  dictates  he  would  not  submit  in  a 
matter  which  he  regarded  as  unjust;  consequently  he 
was  deposed.  Saadya  contended  that  this  act  was 
illegal  and  excommunicated  the  Exilarch.  The  latter 
proved  stronger  and  Saadya  was  forced  into  exile. 
Later  on,  however,  they  became  reconciled,  and 
Saadya  was  reinstated  (934). 

The  last  two  Gaonim  of  any  importance  lived  in 
Pumbeditha.  They  were  Sherira,  who  died  in  999, 
and  his  son,  Hay  Gaon,  who  died  in  1038.  From  the 
former  we  possess  a  very  important  historical  treatise 
on  the  development  of  Rabbinic  law  known  as  the 
epistle  of  Sherira  Gaon.  It  was  written  at  the  request 
of  a  man  in  Morocco,  and  was  inspired  by  apologetic 
motives  to  prove  that  the  law  had  been  handed  down 
unaltered  from  generation  to  generation.  From  Hay 
Gaon  we  have  various  Talmudic  works,  many  responsa, 
and  a  didactic  poem.  Their  contemporary  was  Samuel 
ibn  Hofni,  a  rationalistic  writer,  who  rejected  the  be- 
lief in  the  miracles  related  in  the  Talmud.  Otherwise 
the  age  of  the  Gaonim  is  characterized  by  a  blind  faith, 


HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS  43 

not  only  in  Bible  and  Talmud,  but  also  in  popular 
superstitions  and  in  the  preservation  of  superstitious 
customs.  Hay  was  succeeded  by  Hezekiah,  who  after 
holding  his  office  for  two  years  was  put  to  death  by 
the  Caliph  in  1040.  After  this  time  the  office  lost  all 
significance.  Names  of  a  few  of  those  who  held  office 
after  this  time  are  found,  but  nothing  is  known  of 
their  activity,  nor  has  any  literary  work  of  this  age 
come  down  to  us. 

The  blind  faith  which  characterized  the  period  of 
the  Gaonim  aroused  considerable  opposition,  culminat- 
ing in  the  foundation  of  a  religious  sect  called  the 
Karaites,  tnpJD  ^2,  ' '  Sons  of  the  Bible. ' '  Their  founder 
was  Anan  ben  David  (760)  who  claimed  the  Bible  as 
the  only  authority  for  faith  and  practice,  and  there- 
fore rejected  all  Rabbinic  law.  His  successors  founded 
a  congregation  in  Jerusalem,  and  very  soon  spread  in 
the  East.  The  most  prominent  teachers  of  the  Kara- 
ites are  Benjamin  of  Nehawend,  and  Salman  ben 
Jeroham,  the  latter  of  whom  carried  on  a  literary  con- 
troversy with  Saadya.  Judah  Hadassi,  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  wrote  nsnn  hivx,  the  standard  work  of 
the  Karaite  law,  written  in  rhymed  prose.  Other  im- 
portant Karaite  scholars  are  Aaron  ben  Elijah,  who 
died  in  1369,  the  author  of  PV  p,  a  compendium  of 
the  religious  law,  and  D"n  J»y,  a  work  on  religious 
philosophy. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  Elijah  Bashjazi  wrote 
another  compendium  of  the  Karaite  religion  entitled 
W?H  nviN.  By  this  period  a  large  Karaite  community 
settled  in  Lithuania,  where  Isaac  of  Troki  wrote  a 
very  able  polemical  treatise  directed  against  Chris- 
tianity, known  as  ruiOK  pirn.     In  1698,  Jacob  Trigland, 


44  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

professor  at  Leyden,  made  inquiries  concerning  the 
Karaites  by  means  of  a  letter  addressed  to  their  chief 
sent  through  an  ambassador  to  Poland.  He  received 
a  reply,  ^tidth,  written  by  Mordecai  ben  Nissim. 
This  was,  for  a  long  time,  the  only  source  of  informa- 
tion on  the  history  of  the  Karaites.  The  last  Karaite 
author  of  any  consequence  was  Abraham  Firkovitch 
(1787-1874)  of  Russia,  who  discovered  and  published 
important  Karaite  documents.  Some  of  these,  how- 
ever, he  forged  in  the  interest  of  the  Karaite  claim 
that  the  Karaites  represent  the  original  Judaism  from 
which  the  Rabbanites  seceded. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  Karaite  schism  occurred, 
the  Chazars,  a  Tartar  tribe,  were  converted  to  Judaism. 
Reports  of  the  existence  of  a  Jewish  kingdom  had 
reached  the  Jews  of  Western  Europe.  Hasdai  ibn 
Shaprut  wrote  a  letter  of  inquiry  on  this.  He  received 
a  reply  from  the  King  of  the  Chazars,  and  these  two 
letters  are  the  chief  source  of  information  concerning 
this  remarkable  event.  Toward  the  end  of  the  tenth 
century  the  kingdom  of  the  Chazars  was  conquered  by 
the  Russians.  Judah  Halevi,  who  wrote  his  Kuzari 
about  1140,  used  the  story  of  the  conversion  of  the 
Chazar  King  in  the  form  of  a  philosophic  dialogue  be- 
tween him  and  the  rabbi  who  converted  him.  The 
knowledge  he  had  of  an  independent  Jewish  state  was 
the  basis  of  the  fanciful  reports  circulated  by  an 
adventurer  who  called  himself  Eldad  Hadani  and 
pretended  to  be  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  lost  ten 
tribes.  Their  habitation  and  modes  of  life  he  de- 
scribed in  a  book.  He  appeared  in  the  tenth  century 
in  Morocco,  but  nothing  is  known  as  to  what  finally 
became  of  him. 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  45 

In  the  ninth  century,  the  literature  of  religious 
hymns,  Piyut,  begins.  The  authors  of  these  are  called 
Payetanim  (poets).  Their  works  are  characterized 
by  arbitrary  handling  of  the  Hebrew  grammar,  by  the 
creation  of  new  words  in  an  arbitrary  style,  and 
finally,  by  obscure  allusions  to  the  Midrash.  The 
oldest  of  these  poets  are  Jose  ben  Jose  and  Jannai. 
Their  successor,  Eleazar  ben  Kallir,  is  the  most  pro- 
lific of  all.  Of  his  life  we  know  nothing  with  cer- 
tainty. 

The  literary  activity  of  the  Jews  of  Europe  began  in 
the  ninth  century.  The  first  work  is  probably  the 
Josippon,  a  history  of  the  Jews  from  the  ^destruction 
of  Babylon  by  Cyrus  to  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem  in 
70,  which  was  ascribed  to  Josephus  Flavius.  Another 
anonymous  writer,  who  lived  in  Italy  in  the  ninth 
century,  is  the  author  of  the  Midrash,  called  Pirke 
Rabbi  Eliezer.  But  the  first  Jewish  author  who  lived 
in  Europe,  known  by  name,  is  Sabbatai  Donolo 
(913-982),  who  wrote  on  medicine,  astrology,  and 
Kabbala. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    JEWS    OF   EUROPE    (1040-1215) 

The  first  mention  of  Jews  in  Germany  is  found  in 
two  orders  of  Emperor  Constantine  (321),  in  which  he 
regulated  the  condition  of  the  Jews  of  Cologne.  It  is 
possible  that  this  settlement  was  of  a  temporary  char- 
acter, for  nothing  is  heard  of  the  Jews  in  Germany 
until  the  tenth  century.  A  statement  to  the  effect 
that  Charlemagne  called  Rabbi  Kalonymus  of  Lucca  in 
Italy  to  be  Chief  Rabbi  of  all  the  Jews  of  Germany  is 
first  reported  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  is  in  all 
likelihood  legendary.  Under  Charlemagne  the  Jews 
appear  in  Germany  only  as  travelling  traders.  In 
1016,  however,  there  was  already  a  bloody  persecution 
of  the  Jews  in  Mayence.  Gershom  ben  Judah,  a  native 
of  France,  was  rabbi  in  Mayence.  He  occupied  so 
prominent  a  position  that  he  was  called  riTiJn  "ilND 
(light  of  the  exile).  He  wrote  commentaries  on 
various  parts  of  the  Talmud,  responsa,  other  Talmu- 
dic  works,  and  liturgical  poetry.  He  died  in  1028. 
To  him  are  ascribed  various  rules,  among  them  a 
prohibition  of  polygamy  and  an  injunction  to  respect 
the  secrecy  of  letters.  At  the  same  time  there  lived 
in  Mayence  Simeon  bar  Isaac,  the  liturgical  poet, 
whose  hymns  are  found  in  the  ritual  of  the  German 
Jews  for  the  second  day  of  Rosh  Hashana. 

In  1090  Emperor  Henry  IV  granted  charters  to  the 
Jews  of   Worms  and   Speyer.     These  are   the   oldest 

46 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  47 

laws  regulating  the  status  of  the  Jews  in  Germany, 
granting  to  them  freedom  of  trade  and  travel,  pro- 
claiming  the  inviolability  of  their  cemeteries,  and 
prohibiting  the  kidnapping  and  baptism  of  their  chil- 
dren. Six  years  later  the  first  crusade  broke  out,  and 
the  mobs  composing  the  army  of  the  crusaders  on  the 
Rhine  invaded  the  Jewish  settlements,  chiefly  Cologne, 
Mayence,  Speyer  and  Worms,  in  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try. Houses  were  sacked,  synagogues  desecrated,  and 
many  Jews  cruelly  murdered ;  others  committed  suicide 
after  killing  their  own  children  in  order  to  save  them 
from  forced  conversions.  A  number  of  Jews  who  had 
been  converted  to  Christianity,  in  order  to  save  their 
lives,  later  on  returned  to  Judaism  in  spite  of  the 
ecclesiastic  law  which  put  this  under  the  penalty  of 
death.  The  Emperor,  who  at  that  time  was  in  Italy, 
sanctioned  this  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  Pope. 

Another  persecution  broke  out  in  1146,  when  the 
second  crusade  began.  But  the  consequences  were 
not  as  serious  as  those  of  the  first  crusade.  Bernard 
of  Clairvaux  strongly  condemned  all  acts  of  violence 
toward  the  Jews,  who  found  refuge  in  the  castles  of 
the  lords,  and  the  Bishop  of  Speyer  opened  his  castle, 
the  Wolkenburg,  to  them,  protecting  them  from  the 
attacks  of  the  mob.  Still,  in  Wuerzburg,  quite  a 
number  were  killed,  under  the  charge  of  having  mur- 
dered a  Christian.  This  may  be  considered  the  first 
blood-accusation  on  the  European  continent,  although 
no  particular  motive  for  the  crime  was  given.  There 
is,  however,  a  case  on  record  in  England  in  1144, 
where  the  Jews  were  accused  of  having  murdered  a 
boy,  William  of  Norwich,  and  nailed  him  to  a  cross  in 
order  to  mock  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus. 


48  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

During  the  course  of  the  twelfth  century,  local 
outbreaks  of  mob  violence  occurred  everywhere  in 
Europe,  notably  at  Blois,  France,  in  1171,  where  thirty- 
four  Jews  were  burned  at  the  stake.  In  1189,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  coronation  of  King  Richard  Coeur  de 
Lion,  a  bloody  persecution  took  place  in  London,  and 
soon  spread  over  the  other  cities  of  the  kingdom. 
Notable  is  the  case  of  Benedict  of  York,  who,  in  order 
to  save  his  life,  turned  to  Christianity  and  returned  to 
Judaism  on  the  next  day.  Both  King  Richard  and 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  permitted  this,  although 
it  was  against  the  canonical  law. 

The  climax  of  the  ill-treatment  of  the  Jews  was 
reached  in  1215,  when  the  Lateran  Council,  presided 
over  by  Pope  Innocent  III,  passed  various  laws  repeat- 
ing the  usual  prohibition  against  office-holding  by 
Jews,  and  decreeing  that  they  should  wear  a  distinct 
mark  on  their  outer  garments.  This  is  the  origin  of 
the  Yellow  Badge,  which  in  some  countries  continued 
to  be  in  force  until  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  Pope  stated  that  the  Jews  should  be  like  Cain, 
singled  out  for  their  wickedness,  and  that  their  treat- 
ment should  be  an  object  lesson  to  Christians. 

SPIRITUAL    LIFE    OF    THE    PERIOD 

The  spiritual  life  of  the  Jews  reached  its  highest 
development  in  Spain,  where  the  contact  with  the  cul- 
tured Arabs,  whose  language  the  Jews  spoke,  made  the 
works  of  the  ancient  Greek  philosophers  and  scientists 
accessible  to  them.  In  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh 
century  Bahya  ibn  Pakuda,  a  philosopher,  wrote  "The 
Duties  of  the  Heart, ' '  perhaps  the  most  popular  work 
of  this   literature.     His   ideal   of   life  is   asceticism. 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  49 

His  contemporary,  Solomon  ibn  Gabirol  (born  1022), 
wrote  a  philosophical  book,  "The  Fountain  of  Life," 
which,  however,  is  only  extant  in  a  Latin  translation. 
He  also  wrote  an  ethical  treatise,  "The  Choicest  of 
Pearls,"  and  some  Hebrew  poetry.  His  poems,  of 
which  quite  a  number  have  found  place  in  the  liturgy, 
are  among  the  best  works  of  their  class.  Of  his 
secular  poems  in  Hebrew,  a  wine  song  is  the  most 
famous.  About  the  same  time  Samuel  Hanagid  was 
secretary  to  the  King  of  Granada.  He  was  not  only  a 
patron  of  Jewish  learning  but  an  author  of  considera- 
ble note.  He  wrote  an  introduction  to  the  Talmud, 
and  various  works  which  are  sequels  to  Biblical  books, 
such  as  Psalms,  Proverbs,  and  Ecclesiastes.  His  son, 
Joseph,  succeeded  him,  and  was  killed  in  a  riot  in 
1060. 

The  greatest  Hebrew  poet  of  mediaeval  times  is 
Judah  Halevi  (born  about  1080,  died  1141).  Of  his 
numerous  poems,  some  are  of  a  religious,  others  of  a 
secular  character.  Of  the  latter  the  best  known  is  a 
description  of  a  sea  voyage ;  of  the  former,  the  Ode  to 
Zion,  embodied  in  the  ritual  for  the  ninth  of  Ab  and 
translated  into  various  modern  languages.  He  also 
wrote  an  apology  for  Judaism,  called  Kuzari,  previ- 
ously mentioned,  which  presents  its  doctrines  in  the 
form  of  dialogues  between  the  King  of  the  Chazars 
and  the  rabbi  who  converted  him.  In  1140  he  went 
to  Palestine  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  there. 
He  seems  to  have  died  before  he  reached  his  goal.  A 
younger  contemporary  is  Abraham  ibn  Ezra  (1092- 
1167).  He  was  born  in  Spain,  and  travelled  through 
a  great  part  of  Europe  and  the  Orient.  Of  his  numer- 
ous works,  comprising   the  fields  of   poetry,  Hebrew 


50  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

grammar,  astrology,  and  other  subjects,  the  most  note- 
worthy is  his  commentary  on  the  Pentateuch,  which 
makes  him  rank  as  the  first  Biblical  critic.  He  proved 
by  his  strong  critical  arguments  that  the  Pentateuch 
as  we  possess  it  does  not  come  from  Moses  but  was 
partly  the  product  of  later  times.  His  contemporary 
is  Moses  ibn  Ezra,  a  very  prolific  Hebrew  poet,  whose 
poems,  however,  suffer  from  an  excessive  play  on 
words.  It  is  not  known  whether  the  two  Ibn  Ezras 
were  relatives. 

The  most  illustrious  author  of  mediaeval  times  is 
Moses  ben  Maimon  (Maimonides,  born  at  Cordova, 
1135;  died  at  Cairo,  1204).  His  first  work  was  a 
commentary  on  the  Mishnah,  written  in  Arabic,  and 
translated  into  Hebrew  by  Samuel  ibn  Tibbon.  This 
work  was  a  preparation  for  the  greatest  work  of  his 
life,  the  "Mishneh  Torah, "  in  which  he  presents  the 
whole  doctrine  and  law  of  Judaism.  It  is  written  in 
clear  Hebrew,  and,  while  in  the  law  following  the  Rab- 
binic sources,  it  shows  here  and  there,  especially  in 
the  dogmatic  part,  the  author's  object  to  harmonize 
Judaism  with  philosophical  thought.  He  is  the  author 
of  a  philosophic  work,  "The  Guide  of  the  Perplexed," 
written  in  Arabic  and  known  by  its  Hebrew  title, 
Moreh  Nebukim.  His  object  of  harmonizing  religion 
with  philosophy  is  made  manifest  in  the  first  part  of 
this  work  by  his  attempt  to  explain  the  anthropomor- 
phic passages  of  the  Bible.  He  also  explains  prophecy 
as  a  divine  gift  and  tries  to  present  reasons  for  the 
divine  laws,  showing  that  they  are  intended  for  the 
instruction  and  the  material  and  moral  elevation  of 
mankind.  The  book  was  translated  into  Hebrew  by 
Samuel  ibn  Tibbon  in  the  twelfth  century,    and  by 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  51 

Judah  Alcharizi  in  the  thirteenth.  It  was  at  an  early 
date  translated  into  Latin,  and  in  recent  times  into 
various  modern  languages.  Maimonides  in  addition 
wrote  quite  a  number  of  works  on  scientific  subjects, 
notably  on  medicine,  and  various  Rabbinic  works- 
He  was  physician  in  ordinary  to  the  Sultan. 

Of  the  Talmudists  of  this  period,  the  greatest  is  Solo- 
mon ben  Isaac  (Rashi)  of  Troyes  (1040-1105).  He 
wrote  a  commentary  on  almost  the  whole  Babylonian 
Talmud  printed  in  all  Talmuds,  and  a  standard  work 
to-day.  He  is  the  author  of  commentaries  on  most  of 
the  Biblical  books.  His  commentary  on  the  Penta- 
teuch contains  in  clear  and  concise  language  the  Rab- 
binic interpretation  of  the  Mosaic  law  and  well-chosen 
homiletical  interpretations  from  the  Midrash,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  popular  works  in  the  Rabbinic  litera- 
ture. It  has  been  printed  with  the  text  of  the 
Pentateuch  innumerable  times,  and  is  a  very  popular 
text-book  in  Jewish  study  circles  all  over  the  world. 
Rashi  wrote  other  Rabbinic  works  and  religious 
hymns.  The  most  prominent  Rabbinic  author  of  this 
period  in  Spain  was  Isaac  Alfasi  (born  in  Fez,  1013; 
died  in  Spain,  1103).  He  wrote  an  abridged  Talmud, 
omitting  all  discussions  of  matters  not  of  legal  inter- 
est and  all  the  laws  not  in  force  after  the  destruction 
of  the  Temple.  By  this  method  he  facilitated  the  ren- 
dering of  legal  decisions.  In  Italy  there  lived  at  this 
time  Nathan  ben  Jehiel  of  Rome,  who  wrote  a  Tal- 
mud dictionary  "Aruk, "  using  the  work  of  the  same 
title  by  Zemach  Gaon. 

Rashi 's  grandsons,  Samuel,  Isaac  and  Jacob  ben 
Meirwere  also  prominent  Talmudic  authors.  Samuel 
ben  Meir  (Rashbam)  wrote  several  Talmudic  treatises, 


52  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

supplements  to  his  grandfather's  commentaries,  and  a 
commentary  on  the  Pentateuch  somewhat  more  free 
from  the  blind,  unrestricted  submission  to  Rabbinic 
authority  which  characterizes  his  grandfather's  work. 
The  greatest  Talmudist  among  the  brothers  was  Jacob 
ben  Meir  (Rabbenu  Tarn,  died  1171),  whose  chief 
work  is  "Sefer  Hayashar, "  in  which  he  proclaims  the 
principle  that  the  contradictions  in  the  Talmud  must 
be  harmonized.  These  men  are  the  founders  of  a 
school  of  authors  known  as  Tosafists,  from  "Tosafot" 
(Additions),  glosses  to  Rashi's  Talmud  commentary. 
These  glosses  are  printed  in  most  of  our  editions  of 
the  Talmud.  Through  the  activities  of  these  men  the 
French  province  of  Champagne  and  Western  Germany 
became  the  chief  seats  of  Rabbinic  studies. 


CHAPTER   VI 
PERIOD    OF    OPPRESSION    (1215-1492) 

During  the  thirteenth  century  the  persecutions  of 
the  Jews  continued,  although  they  are  of  a  more  spo- 
radic character  than  those  of  the  time  of  the  crusades. 
In  1235  a  number  of  Jews  were  killed  in  Fulda  on  the 
charge  of  ritual  murder.  This  is  the  first  distinct 
case  of  its  kind,  but  was  frequently  repeated  in  France 
and  various  places  in  Germany,  although  Emperor 
Frederick"  II  (1236)  and  Pope  Innocent  IV  (1247)  de- 
fended the  Jews  against  this  accusation. 

An  important  change  in  the  political  condition  of 
the  Jews  resulted  from  the  law  of  Frederick  the  Belli- 
gerent of  Austria  (1244).  In  this  law  the  territorial 
ruler  for  the  first  time  proclaimed  his  right  to  legislate 
for  the  Jews,  heretofore  considered  the  exclusive  priv- 
ilege of  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  as  overlord  of  all 
the  Jews.  This  law  deals  largely  with  the  regulation 
of  money-lending.  It  permits  a  very  high  rate  of  in- 
terest, and  allows  the  Jews  to  be  tried  in  accordance 
with  their  own  laws.  It  prohibits  all  violence  toward 
the  persons  and  properties  of  the  Jews,  their  syna- 
gogues and  cemeteries,  and  forbids  the  forcible  bap- 
tism of  Jewish  children.  It  became  the  prototype  for 
all  similar  mediaeval  legislation,  and  was  repeated 
almost  verbatim  in  subsequent  laws  issued  by  the 
kings  of  Bohemia,  Hungary,  the  Dukes  of  Saxony  and 
Silesia,  and  others  during  the  thirteenth  century. 

53 


54  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

In  England,  the  Jews  were  constantly  being  black- 
mailed by  King  John  (1199-1216)  and  by  King  Henry 
III  (1216-1272).  The  most  notable  and  typical  in- 
stance of  the  extortion  of  money  from  the  Jews,  is 
that  reported  of  King  John,  who  imprisoned  a  Jew 
and  ordered  that  one  of  his  teeth  should  be  drawn 
every  day  until  he  agreed  to  pay  the  sum  demanded  of 
him.  The  heavy  taxes  laid  upon  the  Jews  forced 
them  to  charge  higher  rates  of  interest,  thus  embitter- 
ing the  people  against  them,  and  making  them  so 
miserable  that  they  asked  to  be  permitted  to  emigrate. 
Finally  Edward  I,  in  1290,  ordered  the  expulsion  of  all 
the  Jews  from  England.  They  were  permitted  to  take 
their  property  with  them,  and  a  sea  captain,  who  put 
the  Jewish  exiles  aboard  his  vessel  on  a  sand  bar 
where  they  were  drowned  by  the  high  tide,  was  put  to 
death. 

In  France  the  vassals  possessed  power  independent 
of  the  crown.  There  the  Jews  were  expelled  from  the 
territory  of  the  king  and  recalled  several  times  during 
the  fourteenth  century.  At  each  expulsion  they  were 
robbed,  so  that  an  assembly  of  Jewish  notables  pro- 
posed to  declare  it  unlawful,  under  penalty  of  excom- 
munication, for  any  Jew  to  settle  in  territory  from 
which  the  Jews  had  been  previously  expelled.  Judah 
Hechasid,  author  of  a  book  on  religious  ethics,  how- 
ever, condemned  this  resolution  because  it  would  not 
be  effective  and  merely  cause  the  Jews  to  transgress 
the  law. 

A  very  serious  persecution  broke  out  in  Franconia, 
in  1298,  the  Jews  being  accused  of  desecrating  the 
host  in  Roettingen.  This  is  the  first  case  of  this  kind, 
often   repeated    up   to    the   sixteenth   century.      The 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  55 

leader  of  the  mob  was  a  man  named  Rindfieisch. 
Another  bloody  persecution  broke  out  in  Alsace,  in 
1336,  under  the  leadership  of  an  innkeeper,  John  Arm- 
leder,  so  called  because  he  fastened  to  his  arm  a  patch 
of  leather  which  was  imitated  by  all  his  followers. 
These  riots  were  finally  suppressed  after  having 
brought  great  misery  upon  the  Jews,  but  the  evil-doers 
were  not  punished. 

The  most  serious  persecutions  broke  out  in  1348- 
1349,  during  the  so-called  Black  Plague  which  spread 
all  over  Europe.  As  a  reason  for  these  attacks  the 
rumor  was  circulated  that  the  Jews  had  poisoned  the 
wells  or  had  smeared  some  poisonous  salve  on  the 
doors.  In  many  cases  the  Jews  were  killed  and  their 
houses  sacked.  The  protection  of  the  Emperor  availed 
them  nothing;  even  if  the  Emperor  threatened  a  city 
with  punishment  for  breach  of  the  peace,  the  affair 
was  usually  compromised  by  allowing  the  city  to 
retain  part  of  the  plunder  taken  from  the  Jews,  the 
Emperor  taking  the  rest.  The  Flagellants,  who  ap- 
peared at  about  this  time,  by  their  religious  fanati- 
cism also  stimulated  the  hatred  against  the  Jews. 

Other  annoyances  were  frequent.  On  the  basis  of 
the  view  that  the  Jews  were  chattels  of  the  king, 
various  rulers  occasionally  declared  void  the  bonds 
held  by  the  Jews.  The  most  typical  instance  is  that 
of  Wenzel,  King  of  Bohemia  and  German  Emperor, 
who  in  1385  annulled  all  the  bonds  held  by  Jews  and 
accepted  from  the  debtors  a  fraction  of  their  debts  in 
settlement. 

During  the  fifteenth  century  frequent  expulsions 
took  place.  The  cities,  originally  small  settlements 
where  the  Jews  were  the  merchants  and  bankers,  had 


56  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

grown  in  size  and  importance,  and  the  citizens  were 
jealous  of  their  successful  Jewish  competitors.  Such 
expulsions  were  often  ordered  under  the  excitement 
aroused  by  some  false  accusation.  Thus,  in  1421,  the 
Jews  of  Vienna  were  accused  of  having  desecrated 
the  host,  and  a  number  of  them  were  publicly  burned 
at  the  stake,  all  the  others  being  expelled  from  the 
city  and  the  entire  province.  Such  expulsions  took 
place  in  1426  at  Cologne,  the  oldest  Jewish  settlement 
in  Germany,  in  1440,  at  Wittenberg,  and  in  1475  at 
Bamberg. 

The  religious  troubles  of  this  period  contributed  to 
turn  the  people  against  the  Jews.  The  Hussites  were 
then  a  great  menace  to  the  Church,  and  John  Capis- 
trano,  an  Italian  monk,  preached  against  them  in 
various  places  in  the  kingdom  of  Bohemia.  Every- 
where he  set  the  mob  against  the  Jews,  and  occasion- 
ally as  at  Breslau  in  1453,  he  tried  them  on  the  charge 
of  ritual  murder.  A  number  of  Jews  were  burned  at 
the  stake,  and  many  others  expelled.  From  other 
cities  of  that  kingdom,  as  Bruenn  and  Olmuetz,  the 
Jews  were  expelled. 

Another  Catholic  revivalist,  Bernardin  of  Feltre, 
appeared  in  Trent,  where  he  arranged  a  ritual  murder 
trial.  The  body  of  a  boy  named  Simon  was  found, 
and  the  Jews  were  accused  of  having  murdered  him 
(1475).  Again  a  number  of  Jews  were  cruelly  put  to 
death  and  the  remainder  expelled  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  Doge  of  Venice  exonerated  them  from  the 
charge,  and  that  the  Pope  declared  the  accusation  to 
be  baseless.  Simon  was  considered  a  martyr  and 
later  on  made  a  saint.  A  similar  charge  was  brought 
against  the  Jews  of  Ratisbon,  but  they  succeeded  in 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  57 

proving  their  innocence.  The  expulsions  continued. 
In  1499  the  Jews  were  expelled  from  Nuremberg  and 
Ulm,  in  1493  from  Magdeburg,  in  1496  from  the  prov- 
ince of  Styria,  and  somewhat  later  from  Ratisbon  and 
Saxony.  The  exiles  sought  refuge  in  villages  and 
little  towns  under  the  rule  of  the  nobles,  or  emigrated 
to  Poland,  where,  toward  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  there  was  already  a  considerable  Jewish  set- 
tlement. This  soon  became  in  numbers  the  most  im- 
portant in  Europe. 

FRANCE 

Under  Louis  IX  (1226-1270),  a  religious  fanatic, 
the  Jews  were  treated  badly.  In  1236  a  mob  of  cru- 
saders attacked  them,  and  wrought  great  suffering 
among  them.  In  1240  Nicholas  Donin,  a  converted 
Jew,  brought  charges  against  the  Talmud  as  contain- 
ing statements  which  were  blasphemous  to  the  Chris- 
tian [religion.  Consequently  all  copies  that  could  be 
found  were  seized  and  in  cart-loads  were  publicly 
burnt  at  Paris  in  1244.  In  1254  the  King  decreed  the 
expulsion  of  all  the  Jews  from  France,  but  the  decree 
was  repealed  under  Philip  IV  (1288-1314).  All  the 
Jews  found  in  the  kingdom  were  imprisoned  and  their 
property  confiscated  under  Philip's  successor,  Louis  X. 

They  were  recalled  in  1315,  but  under  Philip  V 
suffered  greatly  from  a  fanatical  mob,  known  as  Shep- 
herd Crusaders.  After  many  vicissitudes  their  final 
expulsion  was  decreed  in  1394.  Only  in  the  south  of 
France,  where  the  feudal  barons  still  had  sovereign 
rights,  and  in  the  Papal  possessions  at  Carpentras  and 
Avignon,  a  few  isolated  Jewish  communities,  with  a 
ritual  of  their  own,  remained.     Most  of  the  Jews  exiled 


58  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

from  France  went  to  the  adjoining  German  territories 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and  when  these  territories 
were  annexed  to  France  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries,  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  remain 
there.  But  they  were  not  allowed  to  settle  in  France 
proper  until  1791. 

SPAIN 

The  Christian  kingdoms  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
Middle  Ages  continually  expanded,  so  that  the  Moors 
were  restricted  to  the  southern  part  of  the  peninsula. 
The  growing  religious  fanaticism  of  the  Christians 
affected  the  condition  of  the  Jews  unfavorably,  but 
individuals  rose  to  prominence  as  financiers  or  physi- 
cians. James  VIII  of  Aragon  ordered  a  public  dispu- 
tation between  Jews  and  Christians  held  at  Barcelona 
in  1263.  The  Jewish  side  was  defended  by  Moses 
ben  Nachman,  and,  although  he  had  been  assured  per- 
fect freedom  of  speech,  the  Christians  took  such  offence 
at  his  remarks  that  they  demanded  his  execution. 
The  King  sent  him  instead  into  exile.  He  went  to 
Palestine,  where  he  died.  Alphonso  X  (1254-1284), 
of  Castile,  employed  Don  Isaac,  a  Jew,  as  his  astrono- 
mer. Alphonso's  constitution,  regulating  the  condi- 
tion of  the  Jews,  is  rather  severe.  They  were  restricted 
in  their  commercial  activity  and  compelled  to  wear 
yellow  badges. 

In  a  civil  war  between  Peter  the  Cruel  (1350-1369) 
and  Henry  II  (1369-1379)  the  Jews  sided  with  the 
former,  and  although  Henry  was  victorious  he  treated 
them  with  moderation.  In  1391  Ferdinand  Martinez 
began  to  preach  violent  sermons  against  the  Jews  in 
Toledo,  the  largest  Jewish  community  of  Spain.     His 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  59 

example  was  followed  in  many  other  places,  and  in 
consequence  of  these  incendiary  speeches,  riots  broke 
out  all  over  Christian  Spain.  A  great  many  Jews 
were  killed  or  forcibly  converted  to  Christianity. 
Many  of  the  latter  fled  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to 
do  so  to  Mohammedan  countries  in  order  to  be  able  to 
practice  the  Jewish  religion  openly.  They  were  called 
Marannos,  probably  from  the  Hebrew  D"iniD  (excom- 
municated). The  Jews  called  them  D'DIJK  (compelled 
to  profess  the  Christian  religion). 

In  1413-1414  another  public  disputation  between 
Jews  and  Christians  was  arranged  by  Pope  Benedict 
XIII,  one  of  the  three  who  claimed  the  Papal  throne 
at  that  time.  It  took  place  in  Tortosa,  Aragon.  The 
idea  had  been  suggested  to  the  Pope  by  Solomon 
Halevi,  a  converted  Jew  who  called  himself  Paul  and 
later  on  became  Bishop  of  Burgos.  He  was  an  influ- 
ential friend  of  the  King  of  Castile.  Another  convert, 
a  Jewish  scholar  like  Paul,  had  written  a  satire 
against  Paul  and  his  conversion.  This  was  Joshua 
Alorqui,  who  as  a  Christian  took  the  name  of  Geron- 
imo  de  Santa  Fe,  and  was  derisively  called  by  the 
Jews  fpJB,  ' '  Blasphemer. ' ' 

Among  those  who  took  up  the  cudgels  for  the  Jews 
at  Tortosa  was  Joseph  Albo,  author  of  the  philosophic 
work  ' '  Ikkarim. ' '  The  many  converts  whom  the 
Church  forced  to  remain  [in  her  fold  while  they  were 
Jews  at  heart  and  secretly  practiced  Judaism,  pro- 
voked the  ecclesiastic  authorities.  For  their  sake  a 
special  court  of  inquiry,  called  the  "Inquisition," 
was  created  in  1480.  This  may  be  defined  as  a  court- 
martial  to  try  cases  of  heresy.  It  proceeded  with  the 
utmost  severity  and  with  absolute  disregard  of   the 


60  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

most  elementary  forms  of  court  procedure.  From 
time  to  time  it  arranged  public  executions,  at  which 
those  convicted  of  heresy  were  burned  a.t  the  stake, 
often  after  having  undergone  terrible'  tortures.  Such 
an  execution  was  called  an  auto-da-fe. 

In  1483  Thomas  Torquemada  was  appointed  Grand 
Inquisitor,  and  he  was  assisted  by  the  blind  monk, 
Peter  Arbues.  During  the  time  of  the  existence  of 
the  Inquisition  (1480-1808),  31,712  were  burned  at 
the  stake  and  hundreds  of  thousands  were  punished 
with  imprisonment,  confiscation  of  property,  or  were 
publicly  disgraced.  One  of  the  latter  kinds  of  pun- 
ishment was  the  sentence  compelling  the  victim  to 
wear  a  hideous  penitential  gown,  the  San  Benito. 
Peter  Arbues  was  assassinated  by  Marannos,  and 
Pope  Pius  IX  declared  him  a  saint  in  1868.  The  vic- 
tims of  the  Inquisition  were  mostly  converted  Jews, 
although  there  were  also  Moors  and  native  Christian? 
among  them.  In  spite  of  the  terrors  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, the  Jews  assisted  the  Marannos  in  the  observance 
of  the  Jewish  religion,  and  this  was  the  cause  of  the 
edict  of  expulsion  promulgated  by  Ferdinand,  King  of 
Castile,  and  his  wife  Isabella,  Queen  of  Aragon,  on 
March  30,  1492,  soon  after  the  capture  of  Granada, 
the  last  Moorish  stronghold  in  Spain. 

Most  of  the  exiled  fled  to  Portugal,  where  they  found 
a  temporary  home.  But  when  Manuel,  King  of  Por- 
tugal, married  the  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
it  was  stipulated  in  the  marriage  contract  that  the 
Jews  should  be  expelled  from  that  country  also.  This 
expulsion  took  place  in  1498.  Most  of  the  exiles 
went  to  Turkey,  where  they  were  kindly  received. 
Others  went  to  the  Barbary  States  in  Northern  Africa, 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  61 

and  especially  to  Morocco.  A  number  went  to  Italy 
and  settled  in  the  various  cities,  even  in  the  Papal 
possessions.  Still  there  were  a  great  many  Marannos 
left  in  Spain,  and  while  they  were  compelled  to  pro- 
fess and  practice  the  Catholic  religion,  they  remained 
Jews  for  many  generations.  Hence  up  to  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  they  were  always  autos-da-fe 
held  at  which  Jews  were  publicly  burned.  From  time 
to  time  the  wealthy  Marannos  would  escape  and  seek 
refuge  in  countries  where  they  were  permitted  to 
publicly  practice  their  religion. 

ITALY 

Italy  was  split  up  into  many  petty  states  whose 
boundary  lines  were  constantly  shifting.  The  treat- 
ment of  the  Jews  varied  in  its  details  according  to 
time  and  locality  but  is  the  same  in  general  through- 
out mediaeval  times.  It  was  characterized  by  restric- 
tion of  economic  liberty  and  humiliation  in  social 
position.  The  Jews  produced  quite  a  number  of  emi- 
nent scholars,  physicians  (sometimes  attending  on  the 
Popes),  astronomers  and  translators  of  Arabic  works 
into  Latin.  Their  economic  activity  was  largely  con- 
fined to  money-lending  and,  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
they  became  the  pioneers  of  banking  by  combining 
the  pawn-shops  in  a  certain  city  into  companies  which 
were  given  the  exclusive  privilege  of  money-lending. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  clerical  agitation  became 
very  strong,  and  loan  associations  were  formed  under 
priestly  management  to  suppress  money-lending  by 
Jews.  One  of  the  most  notable  agitators  in  this  re- 
spect was  Bernardin  of  Feltre,  who  is  known  through 
his  participation  in  the  ritual  murder  trial  at  Trent 


62  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

(1475).  Italy  became  a  force  in  Jewish  culture  by  the 
establishment  of  the  first  Hebrew  printing  presses. 
The  first  book  printed  seems  to  have  been  published 
in  1474.  One  of  the  earliest  printed  books  was  the 
"Psalms"  with  the  commentary  of  David  Kimhi, 
1475.  The  edict  of  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from 
Spain  affected  also  those  of  Sicily  and  southern  Italy, 
at  that  time  Spanish  dependencies.  Since  that  period 
there  has  existed  no  Jewish  community  in  that  part  of 
Italy. 

HUNGARY 

In  Hungary  the  Jews  settled  at  a  very  early  date. 
They  were  tax-farmers  and  financiers.  Our  first 
documentary  evidence  goes  back  to  1251,  when  King 
Bela  IV  granted  them  a  charter,  essentially  a  repro- 
duction of  that  granted  by  the  Duke  of  Austria  in 
1244.  Under  Louis  (1342-1382)  they  were  given  the 
alternative  of  expulsion  or  conversion  to  Christianity. 
During  the  fifteenth  century  the  Jews  suffered  from 
persecution  and  expulsion. 

POLAND 

In  Poland  the  Jews  appear  in  the  thirteenth  century 
as  Ja  small  community  without  any  intellectual  life. 
In  1264  they  obtained  their  first  charter,  this  being 
confirmed  by  Casimir  the  Great  (1333-1370).  It  is 
also  a  reproduction  of  the  Austrian  law  of  1244. 
When  Capistrano  appeared  (1450)  in  Poland  the  Jews 
suffered  from  mob  attacks  but  fared  not  as  badly  as 
those  of  Bohemia.  The  persecution  of  the  Jews  in 
Western  Europe,  beginning  with  the  crusades,  drove 
many  of  them  to  emigrate  to  the  large  and  thinly 
settled  kingdom  of  Poland.     Hence  toward  the  close 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  63 

of  the  fifteenth  century,  Poland  was  the  center  of 
Rabbinic  learning  and  has  to-day  proportionately  the 
largest  Jewish  population  in  the  world. 

THE   EAST 

In  1187  Saladin  reconquered  Jerusalem.  From  that 
time  Jews  began  to  emigrate  to  Palestine  and  Egypt. 
The  persecution  of  the  Jews  through  the  Inquisition 
and  their  expulsion  from  Spain  drove  many  to  Morocco 
and  Algeria.  The  conquest  of  Constantinople  by  the 
Turks  in  1453  brought  many  Jews  to  the  Balkans, 
and  the  number  of  the  immigrants  was  so  large  that 
their  dialect,  Ladino,  became  the  universal  language 
of  the  Jews  of  the  East,  just  as  in  Poland  and  Hun- 
gary the  immigrants  from  Germany  made  Yiddish 
predominant. 

JEWISH    LITERATURE, 
THIRTEENTH    TO    FIFTEENTH    CENTURY 

From  the  thirteenth  century  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
Jews  declined.  Talmudic  literature,  ritualism  and 
Kabbala  were  almost  exclusively  cultivated.  Poetry, 
exegesis,  philosophy  and  scientific  literature  were  con- 
stantly declining.  The  most  prominent  representative 
of  Maimonides'  tradition  is  David  Kimhi  of  Narbonne, 
1170-1230.  He  wrote  a  Hebrew  Grammar,  ^>3o,  and 
commentaries  to  most  of  the  Biblical  books.  He  also 
took  an  active  part  in  the  defense  of  Maimonides' 
works  when  the  orthodox  of  Spain  and  France,  influ- 
enced by  the  zeal  of  the  Dominican  Frhrs  in  their 
attack  on  the  Albigenses  and  the  scholastic  philosophy, 
wished  to  commit  the  "Moreh"  to  the  flames.  Be- 
sides Kimhi  two  members  of  his  family  are  noted  for 


64  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

grammatical  and  exegetical  works.  These  are  his 
father  Joseph  and  his  brother  Moses.  To  Southern 
France  belongs  also  the  family  of  Ibn  Tibbon,  four 
generations  of  which  were  prominent  translators  of 
philosophical,  Rabbinic  and  scientific  books  from 
Arabic  into  Hebrew. 

Judah  the  Elder  (1100-1150)  translated  Bahya's 
"Duties  of  the  Heart,"  Saadya's  "Dogma  and 
Science,"  and  Judah  Halevi's  "Kuzari. "  His  son 
Solomon  translated  Maimonides'  "Moreh"  and  the 
commentary  on  the  Mishna.  But  the  orthodox  party 
prevailed  in  their  opposition  to  Maimonides,  and  in 
1233  the ' ' Moreh' '  was  publicly  burned  at  Paris.  The 
Dominicans,  who  had  been  appealed  to,  extended  their 
inquisitory  activities,  and  on  the  testimony  of  Nicholas 
Donin,  a  converted  Jew,  charged  the  Talmud  with 
hostility  to  the  Christians.  All  copies  of  the  book 
that  could  be  found  were  burned  at  Paris  in  1244.  In 
spite  of  these  attacks  philosophical  studies  did  not  die 
out  completely.  In  the  fourteenth  century  Levi  ben 
Gershom  (1288-1344)  flourished  in  Southern  France. 
His  philosophical  work,  "The  Wars  of  the  Lord,"  is  an 
attempt  to  reconcile  Judaism  with  Platonic  philosophy. 
He  also  invented  an  astronomic  instrument  in  which 
the  great  astronomer  Kepler  was  much  interested. 

To  the  fourteenth  century  belongs  Hasdai  Crescas, 
whose  commentary  to  Maimonides'  "Moreh"  and 
philosophical  treatise,  "The  Light  of  the  Lord,"  have 
great  scientific  value.  Of  little  independent  value 
is  the  work'Tkkarim"  (Fundamental  Principles),  by 
Joseph  Albo  (1380-1440).  He  is  an  imitator  of  Mai- 
monides; but,  instead  of  thirteen  fundamental  articles 
of   faith,   he  recognized  only  three — God,   revelation 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  65 

and  the  future  life.  To  the  school  of  the  preachers 
belongs  Isaac  Arama,  whose  work,  "Akedat  Yizhak, " 
is  a  philosophical  interpretation  of  the  Midrash,  and 
follows  the  weekly  portions  of  the  Haggadic  writers. 

Isaac  Abarbanel,  born  in  Lisbon,  1447,  died  in 
Venice,  1508,  wrote  various  dogmatic  treatises  in 
which,  as  in  his  commentaries  on  the  Pentateuch,  he 
outlined  his  views.  He  showed  little  independence, 
sometimes  plagiarized,  and  is  very  verbose.  He  put 
together  a  great  number  of  questions  on  some  topic  in 
Biblical  literature,  and  attempted  to  answer  them. 
From  this  time  philosophy  and  scientific  literature  are 
on  the  decline.  The  intellectual  activity  of  the  Jews 
is  confined  mostly  to  Rabbinic  literature. 

Secular  subjects  are  rarely  taken  up  until  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Then  a  revival  of  secular 
knowledge  and  scientific  literature  took  place.  Of 
the  scientific  writers  Jacob  Anatoli,  1200-1250,  in 
Italy,  translated  serious  scientific  works  from  Arabic 
and  Hebrew  into  J Latin  for  Frederick  II.  Kalonymos 
ben  Kalonymos  of  Rome,  1280-1340,  wrote  an  ethical 
treatise,  "Eben  Bohan"  (Tried  Stone  from  Isaiah 
xxviii,  16),  and  a  travesty  on  the  Talmud,  "Masseket 
Purim. "  To  the  same  period  belong  Immanuel  ben 
Solomon  of  Rome,  a  friend  of  Dante,  author  of 
' '  Mehabberot, "  a  poem  in  the  style  of  the  "Divina 
Commedia. "  This  in  some  places  is  lascivious,  and 
was  condemned  by  Joseph  Caro  in  the  "Shulhan 
Aruk."  In  the  style  of  Dante,  Moses  Rieti  (1388- 
1460)  wrote  his  "Mikdash  Meat." 

To  the  fifteenth  century  belong  Judah  Messer  Leon 
of  Mantua,  who  wrote  a  text-book  on  rhetoric  in 
Hebrew,  Nofet  Zufim    (honeycombs),    and    Elijah  del 


66  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

Medigo,  a  native  of  Crete,  who  was  professor  of  phi- 
losophy in  Padua.  He  wrote  an  apology  for  Judaism 
in  Hebrew,  "Behinat  Ha-Dat"  (Evidenced  Religion). 
In  this  class  the  polemical  writers  against  Christianity 
are  included.  Joshua  Allorqui  of  Spain,  who  later  on 
became  a  convert  to  Christianity,  wrote  such  a  polem- 
ical treatise  under  the  title  "Be  not  like  thy  fathers." 
In  scientific  literature  we  have  the  anthology  of 
the  Midrashim  called  "Yalkut  Shimeoni, "  by  Simeon 
Kara  (the  Bible  reader)  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
This  is  a  selection  of  homiletical  expositions  from  old 
Rabbinic  works  arranged  in  the  order  of  the  books  of 
the  Bible.  A  similar  work  is  the  "Yalkut  Machiri" 
of  uncertain  date,  but  most  likely  from  the  fourteenth 
century,  by  Machir  ben  Aba  Mari.  Only  parts  of  it 
are  in  existence. 

TALMUDIC    LITERATURE 

In  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  ortho- 
dox authorities  in  France  and  Spain  attacked  Maimon- 
ides'  philosophy.  Their  leaders  were  Meir  Abulafia  in 
Spain,  and  Solomon  ben  Abraham  of  Montpellier  in 
France.  They  denounced  the  work  of  Maimonides  to 
the  Dominicans,  and  the  latter  burned  it  publicly  at 
Paris  in  1244.  Of  Talmudic  authorities  who  possessed 
secular  learning  and  worked  in  the  field  of  exegesis  the 
most  prominent  was  Moses  ben  Nachman  of  Gerona 
(Ramban,  1200-1270).  His  commentary  on  the  Pen- 
tateuch contains  sound  exegetical  views,  is  strictly 
traditional  and  gives  space  to  Kabalistic  interpreta- 
tions. He  indulged  in  vehement  invectives  against 
Ibn   Ezra,    and    in   his   notes   on   Alfasi    vehemently 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  67 

attacked  Zerahiah  Halevi  for  his  critical  remarks  on 
Alfasi  in  ''The  Wars  of  the  Lord." 

One  of  the  most  prominent  Spanish  Rabbis  was 
Solomon  Ibn  Adret  (Rashba),  in  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries.  He  was  opposed  to  philosophy 
and  issued  a  prohibition  that  no  one  should  read  the 
Moreh  before  he  was  twenty-five  years  old.  He  pro- 
fessed a  belief  in  every  statement  in  the  Talmud,  even 
if  in  conflict  with  well-known  scientific  facts.  He 
left  thousands  of  responsa. 

A  younger  contemporary  of  his  is  Asher  ben  Yechiel, 
a  disciple  of  Meir  of  Rothenburg  (German  rabbi  of  the 
thirteenth  century),  who  emigrated  to  Spain  in  1305 
and  died  in  Toledo  in  1327.  He  wrote  a  work  on  the 
plan  of  that  by  Alfasi,  making  an  abstract  of  the 
practical  laws  of  the  Talmud.  It  is  printed  in  most 
of  the  Talmud  editions,  and  quoted  as  Rosh.  He  had 
eight  sons  who  were  Talmudic  scholars,  and  of  these 
the  most  prominent  was  Jacob  ben  Asher,  who  died 
in  1350.  He  wrote  an  important  set  of  codes  of 
the  Rabbinic  law,  called  Turim.  The  first,  Orah 
Hayyim,  treated  chiefly  of  liturgies,  the  second,  Eben 
Haezer,  of  matrimonial  laws,  the  third,  Yoreh  Deah, 
of  dietary  laws,  the  fourth,  Hoshen  Mishpat,  of  civil 
laws. 

Another  disciple  of  Meir  of  Rothenburg  was  Mor- 
decai  ben  Hillel,  who  was  killed  in  Nuremberg  during 
the  Rindfleisch  riots  of  1298.  He  wrote  notes  to  Al- 
fasi's  code  of  value,  because  of  their  many  historical 
references.  To  the  fourteenth  century  belongs  Isaac 
ben  Sheshet  (Ribash)  of  Barcelona,  who  fled  after  the 
persecution  of  1391,  and  became  Chief  Rabbi  of  Al- 
giers,  where  he  died  about  1410.      In  his  decisions 


68  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

he  is  very  orthodox,  but  distinguished  by  his  humani- 
tarian views.  Thus  he  forced  his  congregations  to 
rescind  an  order  against  the  landing  of  further  immi- 
grants. His  successor  was  Simeon  ben  Zemach  Duran, 
whose  responsa  are  collected  under  the  title  (Tashbez) . 
He  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  rabbi  who 
received  a  salary.  In  Italy,  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
Isaiah  di  Trani  the  Elder,  and  his  grandson,  Isaiah  di 
Trani  the  Younger,  flourished. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  Joseph 
Colon  wrote  a  volume  of  responsa.  His  opponent  was 
Elijah  Kapsali.  Of  special  interest  in  Colon's  deci- 
sions is  the  case  of  the  congregation  of  Nuremberg,  in 
which  he  held  that  all  German  congregations  were 
obliged  to  contribute  toward  the  expenses  of  the  trial 
of  Israel  Bruna,  who  was  accused  of  complicity  in  the 
murder  of  a  Christian  child  in  1477.  In  Germany  the 
most  important  rabbi  of  the  fifteenth  century  was 
Israel  Isserlein  of  Marburg,  1400-1470,  author  of 
Terumat  Ha-Deshen,  a  collection  of  responsa  contain- 
ing important  historical  notes.  When  the  authori- 
ties in  Breslau  issued  a  law  that  Jews  had  to  swear 
with  uncovered  head  and  by  the  name  Yahve,  he 
permitted  it,  provided  it  was  not  meant  as  an  attempt 
to  convert  the  Jews. 

The  German  and  French  rabbis  in  the  thirteenth 
century  were  characterized  by  their  strict  adherence 
to  authority  and  rigorous  view  of  the  law.  The  most 
prominent  is  Judah  ben  Samuel  Hechasid,  author 
of  "Sefer  Hasidim. "  Eleazar  ben  Jehudah  of  Worms, 
a  descendant  of  the  Kalonymos  family,  and  author  of 
Rokeah  (druggist),  is  a  type  of  this  ascetic  school. 
Another  is  Moses  of  Coucy,  author  of  a  compendium 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  69 

of  the  613  commandments  Sefer  Mizwot   Haggadol, 
abbreviated  Semag. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  the  study  of  Kabbala 
received  strong  impetus  from  Isaac,  the  blind,  son  of 
Rabed.  His  disciples  were  Ezra  and  Ezriel;  their 
disciple  was  Ramban,  and  he  introduced  Kabbala 
into  his  commentary  on  the  Pentateuch.  About  1390 
Moses  of  Leon  wrote  the  Zohar,  a  Kabbalistic  Midrash 
on  the  Pentateuch,  which  he  claimed  was  written  by 
Simeon  ben  Yohai,  disciple  of  Akiba,  and  discovered 
by  him  in  a  cave.     It  is  written  in  Aramaic. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  PERIOD  OF  IMPROVEMENT  (1492-1791) 

The  Jews  of  Spain  went  to  Turkey,  North  Africa, 
Oriental  countries,  and  especially  to  Palestine.  They 
came  in  such  numbers  that  their  language,  the  so- 
called  Ladino,  became  the  language  of  the  Jews  in 
these  countries,  taking  the  place  of  Arabic  and  Greek. 
Sultan  Bajazed  II,  1481-1513,  is  reported  to  have  said 
that  he  could  not  understand  why  Ferdinand  of  Spain 
should  be  called  a  wise  king,  since  he  had  impover- 
ished his  own  country  and  enriched  Turkey.  Jews 
stood  very  high  at  Court.  Joseph  Hamon  was  physi- 
cian to  Sultans  Bajazed  II  and  Selim  I  (1512-1520) 
and  his  son,  Moses  Hamon,  to  Sultan  Soliman  II 
(1520-1566).  Joseph  Mendes  (died  1579)  and  his 
aunt,  Gracia,  whose  daughter  Reyna  he  had  married, 
were  Marranos  who  had  fled  from  Spain  to  Antwerp, 
then  to  Venice,  and  finally  to  Constantinople.  Joseph 
was  a  special  favorite  of  the  Sultan,  who  forced  the 
Republic  of  Venice  to  surrender  the  property  of  Don- 
na Gracia,  which  had  been  confiscated.  The  Sultan 
made  Joseph  Duke  of  Naxos,  and  he  seriously  con- 
templated the  establishment  of  a  Jewish  state  there. 
Owing  to  Don  Joseph's  influence,  the  Pope  was  forced 
to  free  a  number  of  Marranos  who  had  been  impris- 
oned in  the  Papal  States  and  charged  with  apostasy. 
A  number  of  Jews,  prompted  by  Messianic  expecta- 
tions, founded  settlements  in  Jerusalem  and  Safed. 

70 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  71 

In  Italy  the  condition  of  the  Jews  changed  for  the 
worse.  Venice  established  the  first  ghetto,  called  thus 
after  the  gun  foundry  "Gietto"  in  the  vicinity.  At 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth century  the  Popes  employed  Jewish  physicians, 
such  as  Bonet  del  Lattes  under  Leo  X.  But  Paul  IV 
and  Pius  V  issued  oppressive  laws  against  the  Jews, 
restricting  their  commercial  activity  to  trading  in 
cast-off  clothing,  enforcing  the  marks  of  distinction, 
Jew  Badges,  and  ordering  the  censorship  of  Hebrew 
literature.  The  reaction  against  Protestantism  and 
the  foundation  of  the  Jesuit  order  further  tended  to 
make  the  condition  of  the  Jews  still  worse.  The 
Council  of  Trent,  1563,  prohibited  the  Talmud  alto- 
gether, but  later  on  modified  its  decree  to  the  effect 
that  the  word  Talmud  should  not  be  printed  on  the 
title  page  of  the  work  and  that  every  edition  should 
be  submitted  to  the  ecclesiastic  censor  aided  by  Jewish 
converts.  Prominent  among  the  latter  were  Elijah  and 
Solomon  Romano,  grandsons  of  Elijah  Levita. 

The  Italian  Jews,  in  order  to  obviate  the  dangers 
arising  from  informations  against  Jewish  literature, 
decided  in  1564  that  no  book  should  be  printed  with- 
out the  consent  of  three  prominent  rabbis  and  the 
trustees  of  the  congregation  in  the  district  where  the 
press  was  located.  By  these  measures  the  Hebrew 
printing  trade,  which  had  flourished  in  Italy  during 
the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  ruined  and 
the  press  transferred  to  Poland.  There,  owing  to  the 
low  state  of  industry,  the  art  of  printing  declined. 

The  frequent  expulsions  and  the  constant  oppres- 
sions fostered  Messianic  hopes.  In  1507  a  Messianic 
pretender   arose   in   Northern   Italy.     His  name  was 


72  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

Asher  .Lemlein.  Of  the  particulars  of  his  career  we 
know  nothing.  Of  greater  importance  is  the  appear- 
ance of  a  man  who  called  himself  David  Reubeni  in 
Venice,  1522.  He  pretended  to  be  the  brother  of  the 
reigning  king  of  the  tribe  of  Reuben,  living  in  Ara- 
bia, and  planned  an  alliance  of  the  Christian  powers 
against  the  Mohammedans.  For  this  he  pledged  the 
aid  of  the  ten  tribes  living  there.  The  Pope  sent  him 
to  Portugal,  where  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Solo- 
mon Molcho,  a  young  Marrano,  who  returned  with 
Reubeni  to  Italy,  preached  and  prophesied  there  and 
became  a  favorite  of  the  Pope.  The  Jews  feared  the 
results  of  his  eccentricities  and  denounced  him  to  the 
authorities  as  an  apostate  from  Christianity,  but 
the  Pope  shielded  him.  Finally  both  went  to  Germany 
in  1530,  where  they  hoped  to  win  Charles  V  to  their 
plans.  They  were  imprisoned;  Molcho,  as  an  apos- 
tate, was  burned  at  the  stake  and  Reubeni  sent  to 
Portugal,  where  every  trace  of  him  was  lost.  Who  he 
was  is  not  known.  He  seems  to  have  travelled  in  the 
East,  and  probably  was  an  Arab. 

The  Reformation  of  1517  at  first  influenced  the  con- 
dition of  the  Jews  for  the  better.  The  accusations 
that  the  Jews  desecrated  hosts  ceased.  As  late  as 
1492  a  number  of  Jews  were  burned  for  this  supposed 
crime  at  Sternberg  in  Mecklenburg.  In  1510,  thirty- 
nine  Jews  were  burned  at  Berlin  for  the  same  cause. 
But  aside  from  this  Protestantism  in  itself  stood  for 
religious  toleration.  Luther,  in  the  beginning  of  his 
career,  spoke  of  the  Jews  as  "cousins  of  our  Lord," 
who  should  be  treated  with  kindness.  He  thought 
that  his  purified  Christianity  would  win  them  over, 
but,  toward  the  end  of  his  life,  when  he  had  failed  in 


HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS  73 

his  efforts  and  was  embittered  for  other  reasons,  he 
wrote  two  pamphlets  filled  with  invective  against  the 
Jews.  In  these  he  advocated  the  confiscation  of  their 
property,  the  destruction  of  their  synagogues,  and  the 
forcible  baptism  of  their  children.  Still  more  bitter 
than  Luther's  attacks  were  those  of  John  Eck,  his 
Catholic  opponent. 

It  seems,  however,  that  the  Reformation  increased 
the  number  of  Jewish  converts.  Prominent  among 
these  was  Emanuel  Tremellius,  an  Italian,  who  first 
became  a  monk  and  then  a  Protestant.  He  was  a 
friend  of  Calvin,  and  translated  the  Bible  for  him  into 
Latin.  He  also  translated  Calvin's  Catechism  into 
Hebrew.  Another  convert  was  Luke  Helic,  who  as- 
sisted the  Moravian  Brethren  in  translating  the  Bible 
into  the  Slavic  language.  A  calumniator  of  Judaism 
was  Antonius  Margaritha,  the  son  of  a  rabbi  of  Ratis- 
bon,  named  Jacob  Margaliot,  who  in  1530  wrote  a 
libel  on  Judaism.  Characteristic  was  the  act  of  the 
Protestant  Landgrave,  Louis  of  Hesse,  who  advised 
the  suppression  of  an  anti -Jewish  book,  "Jiidenfeind, " 
by  Nigrinus  (1570)  saying  that  the  same  arguments 
might  just  as  well  be  used  by  Catholics  against 
Protestants. 

The  Renaissance,  which  produced  the  Reformation, 
also  had  a  favorable  effect  on  the  position  of  the 
Jews.  When  John  Pfefferkorn,  a  convert  from  Juda- 
ism, in  1506  accused  the  Jews  of  blaspheming  Jesus 
in  their  prayers  and  in  their  literature,  and  proposed 
the  confiscation  of  all  their  books,  John  Reuchlin, 
a  famous  diplomat  and  expert  Hebrew  scholar,  ren- 
dered an  opinion  in  their  favor.  The  Dominicans  of 
Cologne,   among    them    a    former  rabbi,   Victor   von 


74  HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS 

Karben,  whose  tool  Pfefferkorn  had  been,  made  the 
latter's  cause  their  own,  but  did  not  succeed.  In 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  where  the  books  had  been 
confiscated,  they  were  ordered  to  be  returned  to  their 
owners,  and  a  long  and  bitter  controversy,  in  which 
both  parties  engaged  in  vile  attacks,  ensued.  In  the 
meantime  the  Reformation  intervened ;  and  the  Pope, 
who  had  been  appealed  to,  ended  the  matter  by  an 
order  in  1516  that  both  parties  should  keep  their 
peace.  He  reversed  this  decision  in  favor  of  the 
Dominicans  in  1520. 

Such  occasions  as  the  calumniations  of  Pfefferkorn 
and  others  showed  the  arbitrariness  of  municipalities 
and  lords  in  the  treatment  of  the  Jews,  and  pointed 
out  the  advisability  of  Jews  appointing  an  advocate, 
"Shtadlan, "  who  would  always  defend  their  rights 
when  necessary.  One  of  the  most  famous  of  these 
was  Josel  Rosheim  (1478-1554)  who  was  originally 
appointed  as  their  advocate  by  the  Jews  of  Alsace,  and 
often  acted  in  behalf  of  all  the  Jews  of  Germany,  here 
and  there  arbitrating  dissensions  in  congregations. 
He  obtained  various  charters  from  Emperor  Charles 
V,  in  which  protection  to  the  Jews  was  promised. 
Among  these  stipulations,  one  issued  in  1530  is  of 
special  interest.  The  Emperor  prohibited  the  ex- 
pulsion of  Jews  from  his  territory  without  his  con- 
sent. This  rule,  however,  was  not  even  observed  in 
the  immediate  possessions  of  the  German  rulers.  At 
various  times  Ferdinand  I,  brother  of  Charles  V,  and 
German  Emperor  (1522-1564)  ordered  expulsions  from 
Austria  in  1557,  and  in  1541  and  1561  from  Bohemia; 
they  were  hardly  ever  carried  out.  When  the  expul- 
sion from  Bohemia  was  decreed,  Mordecai  Meisels,  a 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  75 

wealthy  Jew  of  Prague,  1528-1601,  and  the  descend- 
ant of  the  Italian  family  Soncino,  which  in  1513  estab- 
lished a  printing  press  in  Prague,  went  to  Rome  and 
obtained  a  bull  from  the  Pope  for  the  protection  of  the 
Jews.  The  law  of  expulsion  from  Bohemia  was  re- 
pealed. Meisels  was  in  other  ways  a  great  benefactor 
of  his  co-religionists. 

In  Berlin,  where  the  Jews  had  been  expelled  in  1510, 
Leopold  (Lippold)  was  a  physician  and  favorite  of 
the  Margrave  Joachim  II  of  Brandenburg.  After  the 
death  of  his  master  he  was  accused  of  having  pois- 
oned him  and  executed  in  1573.  A  new  refuge  was 
opened  to  the  Jews  in  Holland,  when  this  country 
gained  its  independence  from  Spain.  A  family  of 
fugitive  Marranos  is  said  to  have  been  driven  to  Em- 
den,  Hanover,  by  unfavorable  winds,  and  thence  they 
were  advised  to  go  to  Amsterdam  (1593).  Moses  ben 
Uri  of  Emden  followed  them  and  instructed  them  in 
Judaism.  Some  other  converts  followed,  among  them 
monks,  statesmen  and  scholars.  One  of  the  most 
prominent  rabbis  of  Amsterdam  was  Menasseh  ben 
Israel,  who  in  1654,  tried  to  obtain  from  Cromwell 
official  permission  for  the  Jews  to  resettle  in  England, 
whence  they  had  been  expelled  in  1290.  A  bill  intro- 
duced into  Parliament  for  the  readmission  failed  to 
pass,  but  prominent  jurists  rendered  an  opinion  that 
the  expulsion  was  not  a  legal  act.  The  Jews  already 
in  London  were  not  molested,  opened  a  synagogue 
and  acquired  a  cemetery  in  1660.  Charles  II  was 
favorable  to  the  Jews,  some  of  whom  had  assisted 
him  financially  before  he  had  ascended  the  throne;  in 
1664  he  confirmed  their  right  of  residence. 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  col- 


76  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

ony  of  Marranos  from  Amsterdam  settled  in  Brazil, 
which  was  then  under  Dutch  rule.  When  the  Portu- 
guese reconquered  it  (1654)  the  Jews  were  expelled 
and  settled  in  the  Dutch  West  Indies  and  New  York, 
then  New  Amsterdam.  Governor  Stuyvesant  objected 
to  their  landing,  but  the  directors  of  the  West  India 
Company,  among  whori  there  were  several  Jews, 
overruled  his  decision.  Meantime  the  Jews  had  set- 
tled in  Rhode  Island,  where  Roger  Williams  had 
promulgated  full  religious  freedom  in  1657. 

In  Amsterdam  the  Portuguese  community  combined 
strict  traditional  piety  with  secular  learning  and  great 
commercial  activity.  To  the  Portuguese  Jews,  Am- 
sterdam owes  its  importance  as  the  center  of  the 
diamond  trade.  Uriel  Acosta,  who  held  high  office 
in  Spain  and  emigrated  to  Holland  in  order  to  openly 
profess  Judaism,  became  imbued  with  deistic  ideas, 
was  tried  as  a  heretic  and  did  penance.  Then,  ex- 
communicated as  a  backslider,  he  became  despondent 
and,  having  attempted  to  kill  Rabbi  Saul  Morteira, 
committed  suicide  in  1640.  Baruch  or  Benedict 
Spinoza  (1633-1677)  was  also  excommunicated,  but 
disregarded  all  attempts  to  bring  him  back  to  Juda- 
ism. He  is  the  originator  of  a  famous  system  of 
philosophy,  called  Pantheism  or  Monism,  laid  down 
in  his  principal  work,  the  "Ethics."  He  also  occu- 
pies a  prominent  place  in  the  history  of  Biblical 
Criticism  through  his  work,  "Tractatus  Theologico 
Politicus." 

In  1666,  the  year  which  the  Christian  Millenari- 
ans  regarded  as  Messianic  by  reason  of  a  passage  in 
Revelation  xiii,  18,  Judaism  was  stirred  by  Sabbatai 
Zebi  of  Smyrna,  who  proclaimed  himself  the  Messiah. 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  77 

Expelled  from  that  city  he  went  to  Egypt,  where  he 
received  the  enthusiastic  support  of  Raphael  Joseph,  a 
wealthy  tax-farmer.  In  Palestine,  whither  he  went, 
he  found  many  admirers,  and  the  prophet,  Nathan 
of  Gaza,  proclaimed  him  the  true  Messiah.  Being 
denounced  for  high  treason,  Sabbatai  was  brought  to 
Constantinople  and  imprisoned  in  the  fort  of  Abydos, 
but  the  means  supplied  by  his  followers  enabled  him 
to  hold  court  like  a  prince.  Everywhere  in  Europe 
the  majority  of  the  Jews  believed  him  to  be  the  Mes- 
siah. The  representatives  of  the  Jews  in  Poland  sent 
two  prominent  rabbis  as  a  committee  to  him,  but 
Nehemiah  Hakohen,  the  Polish  Kabbalist,  who  had 
come  to  ascertain  the  truth,  denounced  him  as  an  im- 
postor. Sabbatai  Zebi  was  brought  before  the  Sultan 
to  answer  a  charge  of  high  treason ;  and,  in  order  to 
save  his  life,  he  turned  to  Islam.  The  Sultan  gave 
him  an  office,  and  for  ten  years,  until  his  death,  he 
remained  in  contact  with  the  Jews.  Many  of  his 
followers  turned  to  Islam,  and  still  exist  as  a  special 
sect  called  Donmah  in  Salonica.  Others  of  his  fol- 
lowers who  remained  true  to  Judaism  formed  a  mys- 
tic community,  which  adopted  the  name  of  Hasidim. 
They  were  excommunicated  by  the  most  prominent 
rabbis,  but  progressed  rapidly,  although  many  of 
them  were  unmasked  as  frauds.  Nehemiah  Hayon,  an 
Oriental,  wrote  a  book  in  which  he  taught  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity  (1712)  and  Jacob  Frank,  a  Polish 
Jew,  formed  a  Judaeo-Christian  sect.  The  latter  was 
supported  by  those  who  wished  to  convert  the  Jews 
to  Christianity,  and  lived  in  princely  style  in  Offen- 
bach, where  he  died  in  1793. 

The  center  of  Hasidism  was  in  Podolia  and  Volhy- 


78  HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS 

nia;  Israel  Besht,  1695-1760,  may  be  considered  as  its 
founder.  His  work  was  continued  by  his  disciples, 
among  whom  Baer  Mezdzyrzecz  (1700-1772)  was  the 
most  prominent.  Later  Nahman  of  Bratzlav  (1779- 
1810)  developed  the  theory  of  miiaculous  powers  of 
healing  granted  to  favored  individuals  and  the  mystic 
interpretation  of  the  Bible  and  the  Rabbinic  com- 
mands. They  still  have  a  great  number  of  devotees 
in  parts  of  Austrian  and  Russian  Poland. 

Persecutions  in  the  seventeenth  century  are  of  rarer 
occurrence  than  in  former  times.  The  most  serious 
one  was  that  which,  with  several  interruptions,  lasted 
from  1648  to  1655,  and  the  leader  of  which  was  the 
Cossack  captain  Chmelnicki.  The  Cossacks,  who  were 
under  the  sovereignty  of  the  Polish  king,  rebelled 
against  their  masters,  and  the  Jews  had  to  suffer, 
partly  because  they  were  unable  to  protect  themselves, 
and  partly  because,  as  tax-farmers,  they  had  been  the 
instrument  of  the  extortion  practised  by  the  Polish 
nobles.  Thousands  were  massacred,  and  since  that 
time  the  20th  of  Sivan  is  observed  as  a  fast-day  in 
Poland.  They  fled  in  all  directions,  and  many  great 
Talmudists  among  them  became  rabbis  in  Western 
Europe. 

The  Jesuits  in  Poland  and  in  those  places  where  the 
Catholic  Church  had  succeeded  in  crushing  the  Ref- 
ormation became  very  powerful  and  fostered  hatred 
of  the  Jews,  often  resulting  in  mob  violence.  In  1664 
such  a  massacre  occurred  in  Lemberg.  The  Jews 
were  accused  of  the  murder  of  Christians;  similar 
charges  were  often  made.  In  1659  two  prominent 
Jews  were  put  to  death  on  Rosh  Hashanah  in  Rossieny, 
Lithuania,    under   the   charge   of   ritual   murder;    in 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  79 

1694  Lazarus  Abeles  and  a  friend  of  his  were  impris- 
oned in  Prague,  charged  with  having  killed  the  son  of 
Abeles,  who  wanted  to  become  a  Christian.  Abeles 
hanged  himself  and  his  friend  was  cruelly  put  to 
death.  In  Vienna  and  Prague  mission  services,  which 
the  Jews  were  compelled  to  attend  every  Sabbath,  were 
held  by  the  Jesuits  since  1630.  In  1670  Emperor 
Leopold  I  expelled  the  Jews  from  Vienna,  influenced 
partly  by  the  hatred  of  the  citizens  and  partly  by  the 
bigotry  of  the  Empress,  a  Spanish  princess.  Some  of 
the  refugees  were  given  permission  by  the  Elector 
Frederick  William  of  Brandenburg  to  settle  in  Berlin. 
At  about  the  same  time  Halle,  Halberstadt  and  Dessau 
were  opened  to  them.  In  1670  Herz  Levi  of  Metz  was 
accused  of  having  murdered  a  Christian  child  and  was 
put  to  death.     His  innocence  was  afterwards  proved. 

Peculiar  to  the  history  of  the  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries  were  the  court  Jews,  Hof-Jude,  Hof- 
factor,  Minister-Resident.  Prominent  among  them 
were  Elijah  Gomperz  of  Cleve,  Moses  Benjamin  Wolf 
of  Dessau,  Jost  Libman  of  Berlin,  Behrendt  Lehman 
of  Dresden,  and  Samuel  Oppenheimer  and  Samson 
Wertheimer  of  Vienna.  These  Jews  did  service 
as  jewelers,  bankers,  general  brokers  and  army  con- 
tractors, and,  as  such,  were  exempt  from  Jewish  taxes 
and  certain  disabilities.  They  possessed  great  in- 
fluence, which  they  used  to  good  advantage  for  their 
fellow -Jews.  Samuel  Oppenheimer,  who  died  in  1703, 
obtained  from  Emperor  Leopold  an  order  of  confisca- 
tion of  an  anti-Jewish  book,  "Entdecktes  Juden- 
thum, "  by  J.  A.  Eisenmenger  (1700),  which,  up  to 
date,  has  served  as  a  repertory  for  anti-Semitic  writers. 

In  1614  a  serious  riot  broke  out  in  Frankfort-on- 


80  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

the-Main,  led  by  the  guilds,  which  accused  the  patri- 
cians controlling  the  municipal  council  of  partiality 
to  the  Jews.  The  council,  aided  by  imperial  troops, 
succeeded  in  suppressing  the  rebellion  after  consider- 
able difficulty.  Vincent  Fettmilch,  the  leader,  was 
quartered,  his  home  demolished,  and  his  family 
expelled  from  the  city.  Other  ringleaders  were 
beheaded.  While  the  city  council  thus  showed  its 
sincere  intention  to  have  the  law  respected  even  with 
regard  to  the  Jews,  the  new  legal  regulation  for  the 
Jews  of  Frankfort,  "Juden-Staettigkeit, "  was  a  speci- 
men of  mediaeval  ideas,  maintaining  the  usual  restric- 
tions on  occupation,  marriage,  residence  and  quite  a 
number  of  measures,  like  the  yellow  badge,  meant  to 
disgrace  a  Jew.     It  remained  in  force  until  1807. 

The  political  condition  of  the  Jews  at  this  time 
nevertheless  shows  steady  improvement,  although  their 
threatened  expulsion  from  the  city  of  Metz  and  their 
actual  expulsion  from  Vienna  and  the  province  of 
Lower  Austria  in  1670  were  a  relapse  into  the  condi- 
tions of  the  'fifteenth  century.  Still,  such  events  are 
local  and  few  and  far  between ;  on  the  other  hand,  an 
improvement  is  manifest  in  various  instances  where 
Jews  were  admitted  to  countries  or  cities  from  which 
they  had  been  expelled  in  mediaeval  times.  Particu- 
larly important  was  their  settlement  in  Hamburg  and 
Berlin  at  this  time.  In  Hamburg  the  municipal  coun- 
cil gave  to  some  Portuguese  Marranos,  who  came 
there  to  escape  from  the  Inquisition,  the  right  of  resi- 
dence in  spite  of  clerical  protest.  The  first  settlers 
were  soon  followed  by  Jews  from  Germany  in  the 
course  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  finally  (1710), 
they  formed  a  legally-organized  congregation.     Simi- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  81 

larly  Portuguese  Jews  had  found  a  haven  of  refuge  in 
various  cities  of  Southern  France,  although  there  in  a 
Catholic  country  they  had  to  conceal  their  Judaism. 

In  Berlin  and  the  Margravate  of  Brandenburg,  the 
Elector  Frederick  William  I  allowed  some  Jews, 
expelled  from  Vienna,  to  settle  in  his  states  on  their 
plea  that  they  were  persecuted  for  conscience'  sake 
(1671).  Still  more  important  was  the  readmission  of 
the  Jews  to  England  by  Cromwell  in  1654;  and, 
although  the  bill  for  their  readmission  did  not  pass, 
their  settlement  was  quietly  overlooked  and  declared 
by  jurists  to  be  legally  justified.  Another  new  coun- 
try was  opened  to  Jewish  settlement  by  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century  when  the  Spanish  Netherlands  had 
made  themselves  independent  of  the  Spanish  crown. 
The  constitution  of  the  new  country' was  based  on 
perfect  religious  freedom,  and  naturally  fugitives  from 
the  Inquisition  were  among  the  first  to  avail  them- 
selves of  this  opportunity.  They  were  soon  joined  by 
the  settlers  from  other  countries,  and  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  Amsterdam  was  one  of  the  leading 
Jewish  communites  of  the  world. 

The  greatest  importance,  however,  attaches  to  the 
settlement  of  the  Jews  in  the  New  World.  While  in 
the  Spanish  colonies  there  was  not  only  no  religious 
liberty  but  even  persecutions  of  Marranos  culminating 
in  autos-da-fe,  as  in  the  mother  country,  the  conquest 
of  Brazil  by  the  Dutch  in  1624  resulted  in  the  first 
organized  Jewish  community  on  the  American  conti- 
nent. The  loss  of  Brazil  in  1654  forced  the  Jews  to 
emigrate,  and  some  settled  in  the  Dutch  and  British 
possessions  in  Central  and  South  America,  Surinam, 
Curacoa  and  Jamaica.     But  the  most  important  settle- 


82  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

merit  was  that  of  New  York  in  1654.  The  intolerance 
of  the  Dutch  governor  Stuyvesant  drove  some  of  the 
newcomers  to  Newport,  R.  I.  (1657),  where  Roger 
Williams  had  proclaimed  full  religious  liberty. 

In  1733  some  Portuguese  Jews  from  England  availed 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  created  by  James  Ogle- 
thorpe, who  made  Georgia  an  asylum  for  convicts  who 
were  willing  to  reform.  They  sent  some  of  their  poor 
to  Savannah.  As  the  governor  was  unfavorable  to 
the  settlement  of  the  Jews,  fearing  that  their  presence 
would  prejudice  the  success  of  the  colony,  some  Jews 
went  to  South  Carolina,  for  which  the  philosopher 
John  Locke  had  drafted  a  liberal  constitution  (1697). 
He  expressly  declared  equal  rights  for  non -Christians. 
They  formed  a  congregation  at  Charleston  in  1750, 
for  a  long  time  the  most  flourishing  Jewish  settlement 
in  the  territory  now  comprised  in  the  United  States. 
Yet  up  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  only  six 
Jewish  communities  are  known :  New  York,  Newport, 
R.  L,  Savannah,  Ga.,  Charleston,  S.  C,  Philadelphia, 
and  Lancaster,  Pa.  These  Jews  took  part  in  the 
American  Revolution,  and  their  patriotism  was  ex- 
pressly recognized  in  the  reply  of  George  Washington 
to  their  addresses  of  congratulation  when  he  was 
elected  President. 

An  English  law  of  1740  gave  to  the  Jews  in  the 
American  colonies  full  rights  of  naturalization,  also 
extended  to  Canada  when  it  became  a  British  posses- 
sion. The  growth  of  Jewish  population  was  slow  and 
did  not  begin  until  the  reactionary  governments  of 
Europe,  after  the  July  revolution  of  1830,  made  the 
hope  of  any  improvement  appear  vain.  Thus,  since 
1830  large  streams  of  Jewish  immigrants  have  settled 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  83 

all  over  the  United  States.  Another  far  stronger  cur- 
rent of  immigration  began  in  consequence  of  the  per- 
secutions in  Russia  in  1881.  The  Jewish  population 
of  America  may  now  accordingly  be  figured  at  2,000,- 
000  souls.  In  Spanish  America  the  only  settlement  of 
any  consequence  is  in  Argentine. 

INTELLECTUAL    AND    LITERARY    LIFE 

The  Reformation  was  promoted  by  the  Renaissance, 
essentially  a  critical  examination  of  traditional  views. 
While  this  movement  had  not  a  very  deep  influence  on 
the  Jews,  it  did  not  pass  entirely  unnoticed.  Elijah 
Mizrahi,  Chief  Rabbi  of  Constantinople  (1455-1525), 
took  notice  of  the  Copernican  system,  and  in  his  super- 
commentary  on  Rashi,  tried  to  harmonize  this  modern 
conception  of  the  cosmos  with  Rabbinic  statements. 
He  also  wrote  a  text-book  of  arithmetic,  a  commentary 
on  Euclid's  elements,  an  astronomical  book,  besides 
various  Talmudic  works. 

More  evident  is  the  influence  on  Elijah  Levita, 
born  in  Neustadt-an-der-Aisch,  Bavaria,  1468,  died  in 
Venice,  1549.  Elijah  Levita  was  a  teacher  of  many 
prominent  Christian  theologians,  both  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  then  very  much  interested  in  the  study 
of  Hebrew.  He  wrote  various  works  on  Hebrew 
grammar,  among  them  "Bahur"  (1518),  a  glossary  of 
Rabbinic  words,  "Tishbi"  (1541),  and  a  book  on  the 
Massorah,  "Massoret  ha-Massoret"  (1548),  in  which 
he  laid  down  the  bold  and  since  that  time  generally- 
accepted  theory  that  the  vowel  points  and  accents 
were  not  invented  until  the  eighth  century.  He  was 
also  a  writer  of  popular  works,  translated  the  Psalms 
into  Judseo-German  and  published  the  Bobo  book,  a 


84  HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS 

translation  of  an  Italian  romance  based  on  the  English 
story  of  "Sir  Bevis  of  Hampton,"  underlying  Shake- 
speare's "Hamlet"  (1540). 

Another  exponent  of  the  Renaissance  was  Azariah 
dei  Rossi  of  Ferrara  (1511-1578),  who  in  his  work, 
"Meor  Enayim, "  a  collection  of  critical  essays,  de- 
fended the  theory  that  the  Talmudic  writings  are  not 
authoritative  on  matters  of  history  and  science,  but 
merely  on  Rabbinic  law.  Joseph  Solomo  del  Medigo, 
born  in  Crete,  1591,  died  at  Prague,  1655,  was  an  am- 
biguous character  and  adventurer,  a  wanderer  dur- 
ing most  of  his  life.  In  his  work,  "Elim"  (1629),  he 
had  the  courage  to  criticize  Rabbinic  theology,  and 
especially  the  Kabbala.  Leon  Modena  of  Venice 
(1571-1648),  who  was  a  very  prolific  author,  went 
still  further,  attacking  the  Rabbinic  law  as  in  many 
instances  incongruous  with  the  Bible,  and  recommend- 
ing a  change  of  the  religious  practices.  In  the  works 
which  he  published  he  merely  indicated  his  liberal 
ideas;  he  clearly  stated  them  in  works  that  remained 
unpublished  for  two  centuries. 

In  Italy,  where  secular  education  was  not  held  in 
such  abhorrence  as  was  the  case  in  Northern  Europe, 
in  the  seventeenth  centurytwo  women  wrote  Italian 
poetry  and  made  translations  from  Hebrew.  These 
are  Deborah  Ascarelli  and  Sarah  Copia  Sullam, .  An 
attempt  to  rationalize  Talmudic  passages  was  made 
as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Jacob  ibn  Habib,  who  was  among  the  exiles  from  Spain, 
settled  in  Constantinople,  and  collected  the  Haggadic 
passages  of  the  Talmud,  with  the  intention  of  pub- 
lishing them  with  an  apologetic  commentary.  He 
died  in   1516  after  having  finished  only  part  of  his 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  85 

work;  it  was  edited  after  his  death  by  his  son.  It  is 
even  now,  as  ' '  En  Jacob, ' '  a  very  popular  book  for 
the  study  of  Talmudic  ethics. 

While  on  one  side  there  was  a  liberal  tendency 
noticeable  in  Rabbinic  Judaism,  on  the  other  a  con- 
solidation of  the  Rabbinic  legalism  and  a  progress  of 
mysticism  were  noticeable.  Joseph  Caro  (1488-1575), 
a  native  of  Spain  who  toward  the  end  of  his  life  lived 
in  Safed,  Palestine,  compiled  a  brief  compendium  of 
the  Rabbinic  law,  "Shulhan  Aruk. "  It  was  printed 
during  the  author's  lifetime  in  Venice  in  1564,  and 
often  reprinted  afterwards.  The  author  followed  the 
arrangement  of  Jacob  ben  Asher,  but  otherwise  is 
quite  independent.  It  was  his  object  to  give  the 
whole  Rabbinic  law  in  one  volume,  without  showing 
its  development  and  without  regard  to  different  opin- 
ions. He  prepared  himself  for  his  work  by  writing 
exhaustive  commentaries  on  the  codes  of  Maimonides 
and  Jacob  ben  Asher.  During  his  lifetime  the  book 
was  annotated  by  Moses  Isserlsof  Cracow  (1520-1572), 
who  called  his  notes  "Mappah"  (tablecloth).  It  was 
his  object  to  lay  down  the  practice  of  the  German 
Jews,  neglected  by  Joseph  Caro  as  a  rule.  This  codi- 
fication was  strongly  attacked  by  some  of  the  more 
liberal  rabbis  of  the  time.  Solomon  Luria  (1500- 
1573),  rabbi  of  Lublin,  but  of  German  descent,  took  a 
more  critical  view  of  the  old  sources,  although  apart 
from  legal  decisions  he  proclaimed  his  absolute  faith 
in  traditions  and  condemned  the  liberal  tendencies  of 
Abraham  ibn  Esra  and  Maimonides. 

A  strong  opponent  of  Azariah  Dei  Rossi  was  Loewe 
Ben  Bezalel  (1530-1609),  rabbi  of  Posen  and  Prague 
and  the  hero  of  many  legends.     He  maintained  the  ab- 


86  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

solute  belief  in  Rabbinic  authority  in  every  respect. 
In  spite  of  occasional  opposition  the  '  'Shulhan  Aruk' ' 
soon  attained  general  popularity  and  was  considered 
an  authoritative  book,  to  which  many  prominent 
rabbis,  as  Abraham  Gombiner,  Sabbatai  Cohen  and 
David  Halevi  added  their  glosses.  These  were  in  the 
later  editions  added  to  the  ''Shulhan  Aruk,"  the 
authority  of  which  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the 
glossaries  are  called  "Aharonim"  (epigones). 

The  sufferings  which  Jews  had  to  endure  during  the 
fifteenth  century  and  of  which  the  expulsion  from 
Spain  and  Portugal  was  the  culmination,  were  the 
cause  of  a  strengthening  of  mysticism.  Particularly 
in  Palestine,  to  which  quite  a  number  of  Spanish  Jews 
were  drawn  by  Messianic  hopes,  such  a  center  was 
formed.  In  Safed,  where  Joseph  Caro  wrote  his  "Shul- 
han Aruk,"  a  number  of  disciples  gathered  around 
Isaac  Luria,  who  preached  a  religion  based  on  the  be- 
lief in  the  mysterious.  He  did  not  write,  but  numer- 
ous disciples  put  his  ideas  in  writing.  Among  them 
were  Hayyim  Vital,  who  was  considered  a  worker 
of  miracles,  and  Elijah  de  Vidas,  whose  work,  "The 
Beginning  of  "Wisdom, ' '  became  a  favorite  book  for 
edification.  Another  Kabbalistic  author  of  the  same 
circle  was  Solomon  Halevi  Alkabez,  best  known  by 
his  popular  Sabbath  hymn,  "Lekah  Dodi,"  which  also 
has  a  Kabbalistic  tendency. 

German  Jews  came  to  Palestine  to  join  the  circle 
of  mystics.  One  was  Isaiah  Horowitz  (1550-1630), 
who  had  been  rabbi  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main  and 
Prague.  Of  his  works  a  large  Kabbalistic  compen- 
dium, "The  Two  Tablets  of  the  Covenant"  (Shelah), 
became  very  popular.     Abstracts  of  it  were  made  and 


HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS  87 

translated  into  Judaeo-German.  Even  in  Italy,  where 
secular  culture  was  far  more  general  among  Jews 
than  in  any  other  country  in  Europe,  Kabbala  had  a 
strong  hold  on  the  people.  A  great  enthusiast  for 
the  doctrine  of  mysticism  was  Moses  Hayyim  Luzzatto 
(1707-1747),  who  wrote  allegorical  dramas  in  Hebrew, 
one  of  which,  "Praise  to  the  Righteous,"  is  a  mas- 
terpiece of  modern  Hebrew  literature.  His  ethical 
treatise,  "The  Path  of  the  Righteous,"  is  also  de- 
servedly popular.  He  went  to  Palestine  hoping  to 
receive  prophetic  inspiration  there,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  forty  of  the  plague. 

Talmudic  literature  monopolized  the  activities  of 
the  German  and  Polish  Jews,  the  latter  being  con- 
sidered the  leaders  in  this  line  and  filling  most  of 
the  Rabbinic  positions  in  Western  Europe  during  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  Among  the 
most  prominent  dialecticians  may  be  mentioned  Jacob 
Joshua  of  Lemberg  (1680-1756),  rabbi  of  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main,  Aryeh  Loeb  of  Minsk,  rabbi  of  Metz 
(1700-1786),  Ezekiel  Landau  (1713-1793),  rabbi  of 
Prague,  and  Jonathan  Eybeschuetz  (1690-1764),  rabbi 
of  Metz  and  Altona,  whose  works  show  the  highest 
development  in  this  branch.  Already  in  the  eight- . 
eenth  century  a  sounder  development  of  Rabbinic 
studies,  showing  the  beginnings  of  criticism  and  an 
interest  in  historical  and  archaeological  questions, 
began. 

Among  those  who  led  to  the  scientific  presentation 
of  Rabbinic  literature  in  modern  times  are  to  be  men- 
tioned Jair  Hayyim  Bacharach  (1634-1702),  rabbi  of 
Worms,  of  whose  works  very  little  has  been  preserved 
but  who  was  interested  in  the  scientific  presentation 


88  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

of  Rabbinic  theology  as  the  theory  of  oral  tradition, 
and  Jacob  Emden  (1696-1776),  the  bitter  opponent  of 
Jonathan  Eybeschuetz,  who  gathered  historical  mate- 
rial on  Sabbatai  Zebi,  and  the  mystics  who  followed 
him  and  had  the  boldness,  although  a  believer  in  Kab- 
bala,  to  state  that  the  Zohar,  as  we  possess  it,  is  not 
the  work  of  Simeon  ben  Johai.  An  emancipation 
from  the  strict  Rabbinic  dialectics  by  better  attention 
to  correct  Rabbinic  texts  and  to  the  study  of  philologi- 
cal and  archaeological  questions  is  found  in  the  works 
of  Joseph  Steinhart  (1706-1776),  rabbi  of  Fuerth, 
Isaiah  Pick  (1720-1799),  and  Elijah  of  Wilna  (1720- 
1797). 

The  sufferings  of  the  Jews  in  Spain  stimulated  in- 
terest in  historical  literature  and  various  authors, 
chiefly  prompted  by  a  desire  to  keep  up  the  courage  of 
the  Jews  in  the  midst  of  persecutions,  wrote  historical 
works.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  Gedaliah  ibn 
Yahya,  an  Italian  who  wrote  the  "Chain  of  Tradi- 
tion," Solomon  ibn  Verga,  a  Spaniard  who  emigrated 
to  Turkey  and  wrote  "Shebet  Jehudah, "  Joseph  Cohen 
of  Avignon,  who- wrote  "The  Valley  of  Weeping," 
and  Samuel  Usque,  who  wrote  a  work  in  Portuguese 
called  "Consolations  in  Tribulation, "  all  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Somewhat  later  David  Gans  (died  at 
Prague  in  1617)  wrote  a  dry  compilation  of  events  in 
Jewish  and  general  history  under  the  title  "Zemah 
David." 

To  the  seventeenth  century  belongs  the  Oriental, 
David  Conforte,  his  "Kore  Hadorot"  being  chiefly 
valued  for  its  accounts  of  Rabbinic  literature  in  the 
Orient.  Jehiel  Heilprin  of  Minsk,  eighteenth  century, 
wrote  a  history  in  the  style  of  a  chronicle,  beginning 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  89 

with  Creation.  It  shows  a  naive  belief  in  the  historic- 
ity of  the  Midrash  but  is  very  valuable  by  reason  of 
its  collection  of  historic  passages  from  Rabbinic  litera- 
ture. Secular  education  was  slowly  beginning  to  find 
its  way  among  the  Jews.  Quite  a  number  of  German 
Jews  studied  medicine  in  Italy,  chiefly  from  a  practi- 
cal point  of  view.  Tobias  Cohen  of  Metz  (1652-1729) 
studied  in  Frankfort-on-the-Oder,  being  supported  by 
the  Elector  of  Brandenburg.  In  his  later  years  he 
lived  in  the  Orient,  where  he  wrote  a  compilation  on 
various  scientific  subjects,  ' '  Maaseh  Tobiyah. ' '  In  this 
he  shows  sound  knowledge  of  medicine. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  PERIOD  OF  EMANCIPATION  FROM  1791. 

In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  slow  but 
marked  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  Jews  is 
noticeable.  To  some  extent  this  is  due  to  the  change 
in  the  economic  life  of  the  Jews,  many  of  whom  were 
engaged  in  manufacturing  pursuits  and  in  such  mer- 
cantile enterprises  as  were  of  noticeable  benefit  to  the 
state.  Some  Jews  were  farmers  of  the  tobacco  monop- 
oly, in  many  states  an  important  part  of  the  revenue, 
others  engaged  in  various  manufacturing  enterprises 
and  thus  received  privileges  which  exempted  them 
from  the  disabilities  imposed  on  other  Jews.  This 
was  the  case  in  Prussia,  where  Jewish  enterprises 
created  the  flourishing  textile  industry  in  and  near 
Berlin.  One  of  these  manufacturers  was  Bernhard 
Isaac,  in  whose  house  Moses  Mendelssohn  lived  first 
as  tutor  and  then  as  bookkeeper.  Frederick  the  Great 
gave  to  some  Jews  the  same  rights  as  Christian  mer- 
chants, although  he  was  in  general  not  well  disposed 
toward  the  Jews,  and  would  not  allow  them  to  engage 
in  agriculture  or  ship-building.  Aaron  Elias  Selig- 
mann  established  a  large  tobacco  manufactory  in 
Laimen,  Bavaria,  in  1779,  which  gave  occupation  to 
many  hands;  for  his  merit  in  developing  industry  the 
King  of  Bavaria  bestowed  a  baronetcy  on  him  in  1814. 
Israel  Honig  was   farmer   of   the   tobacco   monopoly 

90 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  91 

in  Austria,    and  was  in   1789  knighted  by  Emperor 
Joseph  II. 

The  distinctions  bestowed  on  individual  Jews,  how- 
ever, did  not  improve  the  condition  of  the  masses. 
The  progress  of  liberal  ideas  made  this  question  a 
matter  of  serious  concern  for  legislators.  In  England 
a  bill  giving  the  Jews  political  rights  was  passed  in 
1753,  but  aroused  such  opposition  among  the  populace 
that  the  government  found  itself  compelled  to  repeal 
it  in  the  same  year.  Of  more  permanent  value  were 
the  measures  of  the  humane  Joseph  II  of  Austria 
(1780-1790).  In  various  legislative  acts,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  so-called  "Toleranz-Edict"  of  January  2, 
1782,  he  laid  down  the  principle  that  the  Jews  should 
be  treated  like  human  beings.  Although  they  were 
still  under  considerable  restrictions,  their  lot  was  in 
many  ways  improved,  and  the  Emperor  laid  special 
stress  on  their  education.  As  a  tangible  evidence  of 
the  improvement  in  their  condition  the  abrogation  of 
the  poll  tax,  ' '  Leibzoll, ' '  the  Jew  badge  and  Jew  taxes 
may  be  noted.  The  abolition  of  these  mediaeval  dis- 
criminations, which  were  based  on  the  principle  that 
the  Jew  was  a  foreign  and  injurious  element  of  the 
population,  became  more  and  more  general  by  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 

France  abolished  the  poll  tax  in  1784.  As  early  as 
1781  the  Academy  of  Metz  offered  a  prize  for  the  best 
essay  on  the  improvement  of  the  Jews.  The  prize  was 
won  by  Abbe  Gregoire,  a  Catholic  priest,  who  advo- 
cated the  abrogation  of  all  Jewish  disabilities.  About 
the  same  time  Christian  F.  Dohm,  an  official  in  the 
Prussian  war  department,  wrote  an  essay  on  the  civil 
improvement  of  the  Jews,  in  which  he  likewise  advo- 


92  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

cated  the  granting  of  full  equality  to  the  Jews.  This 
principle  became  for  the  first  time  a  fact  when  on 
September  27,  1791,  the  French  National  Assembly 
passed  a  bill  giving  the  Jews  full  civic  and  political 
equality  with  other  citizens. 

When  the  French  rule  spread  over  adjacent  coun- 
tries this  was  everywhere  adopted.  Such  was  the  case 
in  Holland  in  1796,  and  in  all  parts  of  Germany  which 
directly  or  indirectly  came  under  French  influence. 
In  Cologne,  where  for  nearly  four  hundred  years  no 
Jew  had  been  permitted  to  reside,  Jews  began  to  set- 
tle in  1798.  In  Mayence  the  population  tore  down 
the  gates  of  the  ghetto  in  1798,  and  this  was  done  in 
Rome  when  the  French  ruled  there.  In  Frankfort-on- 
the-Main,  where  the  Jews  labored  under  cruel  dis- 
criminations, their  condition  was  considerably  im- 
proved in  1807  by  an  edict  of  the  Grand  Duke,  Baron 
von  Dahlberg,  and  in  1811  they  were  given  full  civil 
equality.  Even  reactionary  countries  like  Prussia 
could  not  resist  the  current  of  the  time,  and  the  edict 
of  March  11,  1812,  declared  the  Jews  to  be  citizens, 
gave  them  freedom  of  residence  and  occupation  and 
the  right  to  professorships  in  the  universities;  and 
although  it  withheld  from  them  political  rights,  it 
promised  to  grant  them  such  in  the  future. 

Jews  have  been  drafted  into  the  army  in  Austria 
since  1787,  and  in  Prussia  since  1812;  but  numerous 
Jews  joined  the  army  as  volunteers  and  distinguished 
themselves  by  acts  of  bravery  during  the  wars  of 
liberation.  In  1809  the  Austrian  Jew,  Israel  Honig, 
was  made  lieutenant  for  bravery  on  the  battlefield  of 
Aspern,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  captain.     In  Prussia  several  Jews  were 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  93 

promoted  to  the  rank  of  officers  during  the  Napoleonic 
wars. 

Meantime  reaction  began  to  set  in.  Napoleon,  who 
as  commander  of  the  army  in  the  Orient  in  1798,  had 
called  upon  the  Jews  to  join  his  army  and  conquer 
Palestine,  changed  his  policy.  Moved  by  complaints 
against  the  business  methods  of  the  Jews,  he  called  an 
assembly  of  Jewish  notables  in  1806  and  laid  before 
them  twelve  questions,  including  whether  the  Jews 
considered  themselves  Frenchmen,  whether  their  law 
permitted  them  to  take  usurious  interest  from  non- 
Jews  and  whether  intermarriage  with  Christians  would 
be  permitted.  The  answers  given  by  this  body  of 
men  were  satisfactory,  and  the  Emperor  in  1807  estab- 
lished a  Sanhedrin  to  ratify  these  principles  and  form 
a  supreme  ecclesiastic  authority  for  all  the  Jews  of  the 
world.  While  thus  apparently  showing  favor  to  the 
Jews,  he  issued  a  law  in  1808  which  imposed  some 
restrictions  on  the  freedom  of  trade  of  the  Jews  of 
Alsace.  With  his  downfall,  however,  a  general  reac- 
tion set  in.  Some  states  repealed  the  laws  which  had 
given  full  freedom  to  the  Jews,  while  others,  among 
them  Prussia,  limited  the  efficacy  of  these  laws  by 
interpretation. 

In  Rome,  where  the  rule  of  the  Pope  was  reinstated, 
all  oppressive  measures  were  put  in  force  again.  In 
Hamburg  and  Luebeck,  where,  during  the  French 
rule,  the  Jews  had  enjoyed  full  equality,  the  former 
restrictions  were  partly  reintroduced.  From  Luebeck 
the  Jews  were  unconditionally  expelled  in  1816.  In 
some  cities  of  Bavaria  attacks  on  the  Jews  were 
organized  by  the  mob  under  the  cry  of  "Hep-hep"  in 
1819,    and   an  article  of   the  Congress  of  Vienna  of 


94  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

1815,  which  declared  that  the  Jews  should  retain  all 
the  rights  they  had  acquired  during  the  time  of  tran- 
sition, became  practically  a  dead  letter. 

The  July  Revolution  of  1830  strengthened  liberal 
ideas  and  brought  the  Jewish  question  up  for  discus- 
sion in  various  Parliaments,  particularly  in  Southern 
Germany.  In  Baden  and  Bavaria  the  petition  for  the 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  Jews  was  regu- 
larly met  with  the  demand  that  the  Jews  should  first 
show  their  willingness  to  assimilate  with  their  envi- 
ronment by  a  change  of  their  religious  beliefs  and 
practices.  Legislation  made  very  little  progress,  and 
in  some  instances  new  reactionary  measures  were 
introduced.  King  Frederick  William  III  of  Prussia  in 
1836  ordered  that  Jews  should  not  have  any  Christian 
names.  The  decisive  change  came  about  after  the 
French  Revolution  in  1848. 

By  and  by  all  states  of  Western  Europe  recognized 
in  their  constitutions  the  full  civil  and  political  equal- 
ity of  the  Jews,  and  in  the  '^Parliaments  which  were 
elected  on  this  basis,  Jews  were  members.  Gabriel 
Riesser  (1806-1864)  was  one  of  the  vice-presidents  of 
the  National  Assembly  in  Frankfort.  The  first  Aus- 
trian Parliament  had  five  Jewish  members  and  the 
Diet  of  Bavaria  two.  When  the  storm  passed  away,  a 
reactionary  spirit  again  took  hold,  although  the  liber- 
ties granted  to  the  Jews  were  not  entirely  repealed. 
Some  countries  like  Austria  suspended  the  constitu- 
tion, while  others  like  Prussia  interpreted  it  in  a  sense 
which  rendered  nugatory  some  of  the  rights  given 
to  the  Jews  in  theory.  This,  however,  was  mostly 
the  case  with  regard  to  the  right  of  holding  official 
positions.     Civic   equality  and   the   right  to  vote  at 


HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS  95 

elections  and  hold  elective  offices  remained  uncon- 
tested. 

Finally  toward  the  end  of  the  'sixties  even  these 
disabilities  were  removed.  The  Austrian  constitution 
of  1867  granted  to  the  Jews  unrestricted  equality. 
The  law  of  the  North  German  Federation  of  July  3, 

1869,  declared  that  every  state  must  remove  all  dis- 
abilities imposed  upon  citizens  on  the  ground  of  their 
religious  belief.  This  law  was  embodied  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  German  Empire  in  1871.  Sweden, 
which  had  admitted  the  Jews  only  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  in  1838  still  restricted  their 
residence  to  four  cities,  granted  them  full  equality  in 

1870.  Switzerland,  while  a  republic,  had  for  a  long 
time  restricted  the  Jews  to  two  places  in  the  Canton 
of  Aargau.  Not  until  1878  were  they  given  full 
equality  with  other  citizens.  Norway  had,  until  1851, 
a  law  on  its  statute-book  which  prohibited  even  the 
temporary  residence  of  Jews  in  the  country. 

England  made  slow  but  steady  progress.  In  1830 
the  first  attempt  was  made  to  give  the  Jews  political 
rights,  a  year  previously  the  disabilities  imposed  on 
Christian  dissenters  having  been  removed.  In  1833 
Francis  H.  Goldsmid  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  in 
1835  David  Salomons  was  elected  sheriff  of  London 
and  Middlesex,  the  first  municipal  office  held  by  a 
Jew.  In  1845  he  was  elected  alderman  and  in  1855 
Lord  Mayor  of  the  city  of  London.  The  entrance  of 
Jews  to  Parliament  was  opposed  with  great  vehemence 
by  the  Conservative  Party.  In  1847  Baron  Lionel  de 
Rothschild  was  elected  to  Parliament,  but  could  not 
take  his  seat  because  the  prescribed  oath  contained 
"upon  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian. "     Not  until  1858 


96  HISTORY  OF   THE  JEWS 

was  a  bill  passed  which  allowed  a  Jew  to  omit  these 
words  from  the  oath.  His  son,  Baron  Nathan  de 
Rothschild,  was  in  1885  admitted  as  the  first  Jew  to 
the  House  of  Lords. 

Only  in  the  East  of  Europe  restrictions  continued. 
Czar  Alexander  I  in  1804  issued  a  law  which  encour- 
aged the  Jews  to  take  up  agricultural  pursuits  and 
acquire  secular  knowledge.  This  step  was  isolated, 
and  in  the  reign  of  Nicholas  I  (1825-1855)  the  Jews 
were  subjected  to  terrible  persecutions,  the  worst  of 
which  was  that  children  were  forcibly  taken  from  the 
houses  of  their  parents  and  brought  up  in  barracks 
as  soldiers  to  serve  twenty-five  years  after  they  had 
reached  the  age  required  for  the  army.  Under  Alex- 
ander II  (1855-1881)  a  slow  improvement  in  excep- 
tional cases  took  place.  Jews  who  engaged  in  manu- 
facturing or  business  enterprises,  skilled  mechanics 
and  those  who  had  received  a  college  education,  were 
exempt  from  most  of  the  disabilities  imposed  on  the 
masses,  but  the  condition  of  the  latter  was  not 
changed.  They  were  still  restricted  in  their  rights  of 
residence  and  occupation  and  excluded  from  all  polit- 
ical rights. 

With  the  assassination  of  Alexander  II  a  new  era  of 
persecutions  began.  This  culminated  in  bloody  riots, 
which  spread  over  a  great  part  of  Southern  Russia  and 
were  periodically  repeated  afterwards.  The  bloodiest 
persecutions  were  those  of  Kishineff  and  Homel  in 
1903,  and  of  Odessa  and  a  great  many  other  cities  in 
Southern  Russia  in  1905,  and  of  Bialystok  in  1906, 
when  more  than  a  thousand  people  lost  their  lives. 
Even  further  restrictions  were  introduced.  Thus  a 
law  of  May  3,  1882,  prohibited  the  residence  of  Jews 


HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS  97 

in  rural  districts  and  the  acquisition  of  rural  estates, 
and  while  in  former  times  the  acquisition  of  secular 
knowledge  by  Jews  was  encouraged  by  the  govern- 
ment, laws  of  December  5,  1886,  and  July  6,  1887, 
restricted  the  attendance  of  Jewish  students  at  high 
schools  and  universities  to  a  percentage  ranging  from 
three  to  ten.  While  the  Jews  obtained  the  right  to 
participate  in  the  elections  of  the  Duma,  the  Imperial 
Parliament,  they  have  no  right  to  participate  in  mu- 
nicipal elections  and  are  represented  in  the  municipal 
boards  only  by  a  few  members  who  are  appointed  by 
the  government.  They  are  also  excluded  from  the 
county  boards,  Zemstvo. 

Similar  conditions  prevail  in  Rumania.  When  that 
country  gained  its  autonomy  in  1856,  it  not  only 
denied  to  the  Jews  political  rights  but  declared  them 
to  be  foreigners.  Frequent  mob  attacks  and  arbitrary 
treatment  on  the  part  of  the  courts  and  the  officials 
made  them  practically  outlaws.  A  hope  for  improve- 
ment seemed  to  loom  up  when  in  1878  the  Congress  of 
Berlin  embodied  an  article  in  the  treaty  which  com- 
pelled the  newly  founded  sovereign  and  autonomous 
states  of  Servia,  Bulgaria  and  Rumania  to  remove 
from  their  statute-books  all  laws  discriminating 
against  citizens  on  the  ground  of  religious  belief. 
They  complied  with  this  requirement,  but  Rumania 
availed  itself  of  a  ruse  by  which  the  law  was  practi- 
cally rendered  nugatory.  By  declaring  the  Jews  to  be 
foreigners,  and  naturalizing  some  Jews,  it  apparently 
complied  with  the  law,  while  almost  all  the  250,000 
Jews  of  the  country  remained  in  their  former  state  of 
misery,  enhanced  by  new  regulations  restricting  their 
economic  freedom. 


98  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

It  looked  in  1878  as  if  Europe  had  guaranteed  the 
fair  treatment  of  the  Jews  even  in  countries  of  oppres- 
sion; opposition  began  in  popular  ranks,  and  in  the 
same  year  anti-Semitism  arose  as  a  new  name  for 
hostility  toward  the  Jews.  This  first  made  itself  felt 
in  Germany  through  the  foundation  of  the  Christian 
Socialist  party  in  1878,  started  with  the  avowed  object 
of  withdrawing  from  the  Jews  their  political  rights, 
including  that  of  holding  public  office  and  advocating 
the  prohibition  of  the  immigration  of  Jews. 

From  Germany  the  movement  spread  to  Austria, 
where  it  first  was  taken  up  by  the  radical  German 
party  in  1883,  and  later  on  by  the  clericals.  It  spread 
then  to  Hungary  and  France,  where  the  publication 
of  Drumont's  "La  France  Juive"  in  1886  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  movement  culminating  in  the  Drey- 
fus case.  Captain  Alfred  Dreyfus  in  1894  was  charged 
with  high  treason  in  order  to  stir  up  anti -Jewish  feel- 
ing, and  this  was  not  abated  until  his  innocence  had 
finally  been  established  in  1906.  Another  sign  of  an 
unfavorable  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  masses 
toward  the  Jews  was  the  revival  of  the  blood  accusa- 
tion. When  in  1840  it  made  its  appearance  in  Damas- 
cus, where  Jews  were  imprisoned  and  tortured  for  this 
cause,  it  seemed  that  such  a  return  to  mediaeval  bar- 
barism was  confined  to  the  Orient.  In  1882,  however, 
it  took  place  in  Tisza-Ezlar,  Hungary, and  other  cases 
followed  in  Western  Europe:  at  Xanten,  Germany,  in 
1891,  at  Konitz  in  1899,  and  at  Polna,  Bohemia,  in 
1900. 

The  disappointment  caused  by  the  unlooked-for 
reaction  manifested  itself  also  in  the  attitude  of  the 
Jews  with  regard  to  their  future.     Soon  after  it  had 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  99 

become  evident  that  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in 
Rumania  would  not  be  improved  by  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin,  and  after  the  bloody  persecutions  in  Russia  had 
destroyed  the  hope  that  Russia  would  slowly  improve 
the  condition  of  its  Jews,  a  movement  for  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Jews  in  Palestine  began.  In  1882  the 
foundation  of  a  society,  "Lovers  of  Zion, "  marked 
the  beginning  of  a  movement  looking  toward  the 
resettlement  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine.  It  assumed 
more  systematic  shape  by  the  publication  of  "Der 
Judenstaat, "  by  Theodor  Herzl  in  1896,  which  was 
followed  in  1897  by  the  first  Congress  of  Zionists  con- 
vened at  Basle,  which  declared  in  its  platform  the 
object  to  establish  "a  legally  secured  home  for  the 
Jewish  people  in  Palestine. ' '  At  the  same  time  an 
unprecedented  emigration  took  place  from  Russia  and 
Rumania  to  free  countries,  particularly  to  the  United 
States,  Canada,  Australia  and  South  Africa,  with  a 
smaller  but  also  considerable  stream  of  emigration  to 
England. 

Baron  de  Hirsch  attempted  to  regulate  the  emigra- 
tion by  turning  it  to  Argentine,  where  he  acquired 
large  tracts  of  land  in  1890.  Indeed,  agricultural 
settlements  were  founded  there,  although  they  did  not 
realize  the  expectations  of  those  who  would  have 
turned  large  masses  of  immigrants  into  that  country. 

In  spite  of  the  retrogressive  movement  which  the 
history  of  the  Jews  seemed  to  present,  Western  Europe 
not  only  retained  the  principles  enacted  by  the  con- 
stitutions promulgated  in  and  after  1848,  but  individ- 
ual Jews  have  risen  to  prominence  in  political  life. 
Almost  all  states  of  Western  Europe  have  had  Jews 
as  members  of  their  Parliaments,  and  some  have  ob- 


100  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

tained  prominent  positions  in  the  government  service. 
France  had  several  Jews  as  ministers.  Cremieux  was 
minister  of  justice  in  1848,  Godchaux  and  Achille 
Fould  served  under  Napoleon  III,  and  Raynal  under  the 
republic.  In  Italy,  Wollemborg  was  once  and  Luzzatti 
six  times  minister  of  finance,  and  Joseph  Ottolenghi 
was  minister  of  war.  In  1910  Luzatti  became  pre- 
mier. Holland  had  repeatedly  Jewish  ministers,  and 
England  saw  in  1909  the  first  Jew,  Herbert  Samuel, 
member  of  the  cabinet.  The  United  States  had  a  Jew 
in  the  cabinet  in  the  person  of  Oscar  S.  Straus,  sec- 
retary of  commerce  and  labor  (1906-1909).  In  the 
Grand  Duchy  of  Baden,  Moritz  Ellstaetter  was  minis- 
ter of  finance  (1868-1893).  Quite  a  number  of  Jews 
have  occupied  positions  as  judges,  as  professors  at 
universities,  and  in  other  public  activities. 

CULTURE 

The  improvement  of  the  political  conditions  influ- 
enced the  intellectual  and  social  life  of  the  Jews  to  a 
considerable  degree.  This  is  noticeable  in  their  litera- 
ture, education,  religious  life  and  finally  in  their  com- 
munal organizations. 

Moses  Mendelssohn  (1729-1786),  of  Dessau,  came 
as  a  boy  to  Berlin.  After  a  youth  filled  with  hardship 
he  found  employment  in  the  house  of  a  manufacturer, 
first  as  tutor  and  then  as  bookkeeper.  His  main 
object  was  to  raise  Jews  from  their  intellectual  isola- 
tion. He  translated  the  Pentateuch,  the  Psalms  and 
some  smaller  books  of  the  Bible  into  correct  German, 
and  edited  this  work  with  a  Hebrew  commentary.  It 
soon  became  popular  and  was  the  medium  for  teach- 
ing the  young  people  the  German  language.     He  also 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  101 

defended  Judaism  against  various  attacks  and  pre- 
sented its  teaching  in  a  German  work,  "Jerusalem." 
In  his  work  on  the  Bible,  he  was  assisted  by  various 
co-workers,  among  whom  the  most  prominent  is 
Naphtali  Herz  Wesel,  who  called  himself  Hartwig 
Wessely  (1725-1805).  The  latter's  epic  on  the  life 
of  Moses,  patterned  on  Klopstock's  "Messias,"  was 
written  in  elegant  Hebrew  verse,  and  became  an 
inspiration  to  many  other  writers  disgusted  with  the 
obscure  and  artificial  style  of  Rabbinic  Hebrew,  and 
having  a  taste  for  literary  beauty.  An  organ  for  such 
endeavors  was  presented  by  the  publication  of  the  first 
Hebrew  magazine,  "Meassef"  (1784). 

The  progress  of  secular  education  made  Hebrew 
literature  soon  disappear  in  "Western  Europe,  but  the 
influence  of  Wessely  and  his  disciples  made  itself  very 
strongly  felt  in  the  East  of  Europe,  and  particularly 
in  the  countries  comprising  the  former  kingdom  of 
Poland.  Their  modern  Hebrew  writings  introduced 
the  young  men  to  the  knowledge  of  history  and 
science,  and  gave  them  a  taste  for  secular  education 
and  for  a  western  conception  of  life.  Isaac  Bar 
Loewinson  (1788-1860)  wrote  works  in  defense  of 
Judaism,  and  advocated  secular  culture,  patriotism, 
manual  trades  and  the  emancipation  from  mediaeval 
conditions  still  existing  in  these  countries.  Marcus 
Aaron  Guenzburg  (1795-1846)  worked  chiefly  as 
translator  of  popular  works,  such  as  juveniles  like 
Campe's  "Robinson  Crusoe." 

A  more  independent  character  was  given  to  Hebrew 
literature  by  Abraham  Mapu  (1808-1867)  who  wrote 
two  novels  from  Biblical  life, "The  Love  of  Zion,"  and 
"The  Guilt  of  Samaria,"  and  another  describing  the 


102  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

life  of  the  Jew  in  his  Lithuanian  home,  "The  Hypo- 
crite." Mapu  used  Biblical  Hebrew  with  great  facil- 
ity and  became  the  father  of  a  new  development  in 
Hebrew  and  later  in  Yiddish,  giving  to  Jewish  litera- 
ture a  high  literary  character.  He  was  followed  by 
Judah  Loew  (Leon)  Gordon  (1833-1892),  whose  satir- 
ical poems  not  merely  possess  a  value  for  the  ease  with 
which  the  author  handled  the  Hebrew  language,  but 
have  been  a  great  force  impressing  upon  the  minds  of 
the  Jews  in  Eastern  Europe  the  defects  of  their  in- 
tellectual isolation  and  the  shortcomings  of  Rabbinic 
teachings.  Among  the  later  poets  Chayim  Nachman 
Bialik,  born  1873,  is  the  most  popular.  His  elegy  on 
the  massacre  of  Kishineff  is  one  of  the  gems  of 
modern  Hebrew  literature. 

Yiddish  literature  from  its  earliest  beginnings  in  the 
sixteenth  century  was  mostly  used  as  a  vehicle  for 
the  religious  instruction  of  women  and  people  of  little 
education  or  merely  adapted  and  translated  some  of 
the  popular  literature  of  the  countries  where  its  ex- 
ponents lived.  From  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  it  commenced  to  assume  a  more  independent 
character  and  thus  secured  a  place  in  the  world's  his- 
tory as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  some  of  its  works  were 
translated  into  other  European  languages.  Among 
the  novelists  may  be  mentioned  Shalom  Jacob  Abram- 
owitsch  (born  1836)  who  writes  under  the  pseudonym, 
"Mendele  the  bookseller,"  Shalom  Rabinowitsch 
(born  1859)  and,  the  most  popular  of  all,  Isaac  Loeb 
Peretz  (born  1851).  A  poet  who  presents  the  tragic 
as  well  as  the  humorous  side  of  the  New  York  ghetto, 
Morris  Rosenfeld,  born  1864,  is  to  be  mentioned ;  his 
works   have   been    translated    into  various   European 


HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  103 

languages.  Of  dramatists  whose  works  have  occa- 
sionally found  their  way  to  the  German  and  English 
stage  there  are  Shalom  Asch,  and  Jacob  Gordin 
(1853-1909),  who  deals  with  the  life  of  Russian  Jews 
in  America. 

The  disappearance  of  the  social  and  intellectual 
isolation  in  the  life  of  the  Jews  created  a  special 
literature  which  is  called  the  ghetto  novel.  This 
deals  with  the  life  of  the  Jews  in  the  era  of  transition 
from  their  isolation  to  modern  culture.  This  litera- 
ture began  in  Germany  and  its  best  known  repre- 
sentatives are  Aaron  Bernstein  (1812-1884),  Leopold 
Kompert  (1822-1886),  Karl  Emil  Franzos  (1848-1904), 
and,  among  Christians  who  view  the  life  of  the  East- 
ern Jews  with  sympathy,  Leopold  von  Sacher-Ma- 
soch  (1835-1895)  and  Eliza  de  Orzeska  (1842-1910). 
Sketches  from  the  life  of  the  Alsatian  Jews  were  pre- 
sented in  French  by  Alexander  Weill  (1811-1898)  and 
in  Danish  by  Meier  Aaron  Goldschmidt  (1819-1887). 
In  the  English  language,  Israel  Zangwill,  born  1864, 
wrote  novels  dealing  with  the  life  of  the  foreign  Jews 
in  England.  Among  his  works  "The  Children  of  the 
Ghetto"  has  obtained  a  place  in  the  world's  best  lit- 
erature. The  English  stories  of  Martha  Wolfenstein 
(1869-1906)  deal  with  the  life  of  European  Jews. 

A  place  in  modern  Jewish  literature  belongs  to  the 
Jewish  press  as  it  has  developed  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. The  first  Jewish  periodical  that  had  more  than 
an  ephemeral  existence  was  "Meassef, "  published  in 
Hebrew  with  some  parts  in  German.  It  began  to  ap- 
pear in  1784,  and  with  some  interruptions  was  kept 
up  until  1810.  The  oldest  periodical  still  in  existence 
is  the  "Allgemeine  Zeitung  des  Judentums, "  begun 


104  HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS 

by  Ludwig  Philippson,  rabbi  in  Magdeburg,  in  1837. 
It  was  followed  by  the  "Archives  Israelites"  in  1840 
in  Paris,  and  by  the  "Jewish  Chronicle"  in  1841  in 
London.  Of  the  numerous  periodicals  published  in 
the  United  States,  the  oldest  still  existing  is  the 
"American  Israelite,"  founded  by  Isaac  M.  Wise  in 
Cincinnati  in  1854. 

The  first  Hebrew  weekly,  which  dealt  not  only  with 
Jewish  affairs,  was  the  ' '  Hamaggid, ' '  founded  by  Laz- 
arus Silbermann  in  Lyck,  East  Prussia,  in  1858.  The 
first  Hebrew  daily  paper  was  the  "Hazefirah, "  pub- 
lished first  as  a  weekly  in  1862  and  afterwards  as  a 
daily  from  1886.  Quite  a  number  of  valuable  maga- 
zines dealing  with  Jewish  history  and  literature  have 
been  published  since  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  in  Hebrew  and  in  various  modern  languages. 
"Wissenschaftliche  Zeitschrift  fuer  Juedische  Theo- 
logie"  (1835-1840)  and  "Juedische  Zeitschrift  fuer 
Wissenschaft  und  Leben"  (1862-1875)  were  both 
edited  by  Abraham  Geiger;  the  "Monatsschrift  fuer 
Geschichte  und  Wissenschaft  des  Judentums, ' '  begun 
by  Zechariah  Frankel  in  1854,  was  discontinued  in 
1887  and  has  been  republished  since  1891.  "Revue 
des  Etudes  Juives"  dates  from  1881;  "Jewish  Quar- 
terly Review"  appeared  from  1888  to  1908.  Of  the 
Hebrew  magazines  there  are  "Kerem  Hemed, "  of 
which  nine  volumes  were  published  from  1833  to 
1856,  BikureHa-ittim  (1820-1831),  and  "Haschiloach" 
since  1896. 

Rabbinic  literature  of  the  older  type,  dealing  with 
the  law  and  Talmudic  dialecticism  has,  also  a  great 
number  of  representatives  during  this  period.  Among 
the  foremost  may  be  named  Moses  Schreiber  (Sofer), 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  105 

born  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main  in  1762,  died  as  rabbi 
of  Presburg  in  1839,  and  Akiba  Eger  (1761-1837). 
In  Western  Europe  this  literature  shows  a  steady- 
decline.  Of  the  authors  whose  life  belongs  entirely 
to  the  nineteenth  century  may  be  mentioned  Jacob 
Ettlinger,  rabbi  of  Altona  (1798-1871),  and  Seligman 
Bar  Bamgerger,  rabbi  of  Wuerzburg  (1807-1878) .  Very 
numerous,  however,  are  the  Rabbinic  authors  of  East- 
ern Europe  and  the  Orient,  among  whom  Isaac  Elha- 
nanSpector,  rabbi  of  Kovno  (1810-1896),  Hayim  David 
Hazan,  rabbi  of  Jerusalem  (1790-1868),  Hayim  Pa- 
laggi,  rabbi  of  Smyrna  (1784-1868),  and  Hayim  Heze- 
kiah  Medini  (1834-1904),  may  be  mentioned. 

Already  before  Mendelssohn's  time  individual  Jews 
in  Germany  and  Austria  distinguished  themselves  in 
literature  and  science.  But  the  education  of  the 
masses  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  Bible  and  Tal- 
mud. With  the  popularization  of  secular  knowledge 
the  necessity  for  schools  arose  and  the  first  institution 
of  this  kind  was  founded  in  Berlin  as  the  "Jewish 
Free  School"  in  1778.  The  efforts  of  Emperor  Joseph 
II  to  promote  secular  culture  among  the  Jews  of  Aus- 
tria led  to  the  establishment  of  a  primary  school  in 
Prague  in  1782.  Others  followed  indifferent  cities: 
the  Wilhelm  Schule  of  Breslau  was  founded  in  1791; 
the  Herzog  Franz-Schule  in  Dessau  in  1799.  Higher 
schools  were  the  Jacobson  Schule  in  Seesen  in  1801, 
the  Samson  Schule  in  Wolfenbuettel  in  1803,  and  the 
Philanthropin  in  Frankfort-on-the-Main  in  the  next 
year.  Even  in  Eastern  Europe,  where  religious  fanat- 
icism was  bitterly  opposed  to  secular  education,  such 
schools  came  into  existence  like  the  one  founded  in 
Tarnopol    by   Joseph    Perls    in    1815.     The   Alliance 


106  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

Israelite  Universelle,  founded  in  1860,  made  it  one  of 
its  principal  objects  to  establish  schools  for  secular 
education  in  the  Orient,  and  it  now  has  a  great  num- 
ber of  schools  which  it  maintains  in  Turkey,  Northern 
Africa  and  Asia,  extending  from  Palestine  and  Asia 
Minor  to  Persia  and  Mesopotamia. 

With  the  growing  number  of  schools  the  need  for 
special  training  schools  for  Jewish  teachers  arose. 
The  first  of  these  was  founded  in  Berlin  in  1825. 
More  important  was  the  need  for  training  schools  foi 
rabbis.  The  old  method  of  education  by  which  every 
young  man  who  devoted  himself  to  study  was  a  Tal- 
mudic  scholar  was  discontinued  in  Western  Europe. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  became  necessary  to  give  the 
rabbis  a  more  systematic  training.  The  first  modern 
school  of  this  kind  was  established  in  Padua,  then 
under  Austrian  rule,  in  1829.  Later  the  Yeshibah  of 
Metz  was  transformed  into  a  Rabbinic  seminary  and 
subsequently  transferred  to  Paris.  In  1854  the  Rab- 
binic seminary  of  Breslau  was  founded  and  this  was 
followed  by  the  establishment  of  similar  institutions 
in  European  countries.  In  1875  the  first  Rabbinic 
seminary  in  America,  the  Hebrew  Union  College  of 
Cincinnati,  was  opened.  In  New  York  the  Jewish 
Theological  Seminary  was  established  in  1886. 
Various  educational  institutions  devoted  to  special 
needs,  such  as  the  school  for  the  deaf-mutes  opened  in 
Nikolsburg  in  1845,  and  later  transferred  to  Vienna, 
and  the  first  Jewish  institute  for  the  blind  established 
in  the  latter  city  in  1872,  deserve  to  be  mentioned  in 
this  connection. 

The  removal  of  the  disabilities  which  kept  the  Jews 
from  agriculture  and  mechanical  trades,  and  the  de- 


HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS  107 

sire  of  the  Jews  to  direct  the  young  generation  into 
such  pursuits  gave  rise  to  quite  a  number  of  institu- 
tions all  over  the  world  devoted  to  these  purposes. 
Several  of  these  are  located  in  the  Orient  and  were 
founded  or  subventioned  by  the  Alliance  Israelite.  It 
established  the  first  agricultural  school  near  Jaffa  in 
Palestine  in  1871.  The  Hebrew  Technical  Institute 
of  New  York,  founded  in  1884,  the  agricultural  schools 
at  Ahlem,  founded  1893,  at  Woodbine,  N.  J.,  1891, 
and  at  Doylestown,  Pa.,  1896,  may  be  mentioned. 

With  the  emancipation  from  Rabbinic  studies  a  new 
development  in  Jewish  learning  took  place.  This 
showed  itself  in  what  is  called  the  "Science  of  Juda- 
ism,"  and  may  be  defined  as  a  systematic  study  of 
Jewish  history  and  literature.  The  pioneer  in  this 
work  was  Leopold  Zunz  (1794-1886)  who  wrote  books 
on  the  history  of  Jewihs  homiletics,  on  the  syna- 
gogal  poetry  and  various  minor  essays  on  all  phases 
of  Jewish  literature.  He  found  numerous  followers,  not 
merely  in  western  Europe,  but  also  in  the  East,  and 
thus  contributed  largely  to  the  intellectual  elevation 
of  the  Jews. 

In  Eastern  countries  the  first  who  wrote  on  these 
topics  in  Hebrew  were  Nahman  Krochmal  (1785- 
1840)  and  Solomon  LoewRapoport  (1790-1867).  The 
latter,  inspired  by  the  works  of  Zunz,  was  the  author 
of  biographies  of  prominent  mediaeval  rabbis.  In 
Italy  we  have  Isaac  Samuel  Reggio  (1784-1855)  and 
Samuel  David  Luzzatto  (1800-1865),  who  used  the 
excellent  collections  of  old  Hebrew  prints  and  manu- 
scripts for  the  elucidation  of  the  history  of  Jewish 
literature.  The  external  side  of  the  literature  was 
presented  in  erudite  form  by  the  great  bibliographer 


108  HISTORY  OF   THE   JEWS 

Moritz  Steinschneider  (1816-1907).  History  in  more 
readable  form  was  written  first  by  Isaac  Marcus  Jost 
(1795-1860),  and  then  by  Heinrich  Graetz  (1817- 
1891),  the  latter' s  work  having  gone  through  various 
editions  and  been  translated  into  French,  English, 
Hebrew  and  Yiddish.  Numerous  authors  worked  at 
the  elucidation  of  portions  of  Jewish  history  and  care- 
fully edited  old  manuscripts.  Thus  they  shed  light  on 
obscure  parts  of  the  Jewish  past  and  showed  the 
many-sided  activity  of  the  Jews  during  the  long  period 
of  their  history  and  their  influence  on  all  human 
activities. 

In  this  connection  the  participation  of  the  Jews  in 
spiritual  activity  ought  to  be  mentioned.  We  find 
them  as  authors,  artists,  inventors  and  scholars  in 
all  lines.  Only  the  most  prominent  can  be  named. 
Ludwig  Boerne,  formerly  Loeb  Baruch  (1784-1837), 
is  one  of  the  classic  essayists  of  German  literature. 
Heinrich  Heine  (1797-1856)  is  one  of  the  greatest  of 
lyric  poets.  Both  Heine  and  Boerne  became  converted 
to  Christianity.  A  classic  author  of  village  idyls  is 
Berthold  Auerbach  (1812-1882).  Among  the  greatest 
tragedians  of  the  world  are  Eliza  Rachel  Felix  (1821— 
1858),  in  her  days  the  foremost  actress  on  the  French 
stage,  and  Adolf  von  Sonnenthal  (1832-1909)  consid- 
ered the  most  prominent  German  actor  of  his  time. 
Giacomo  Meyerbeer  (1791-1864)  is  one  of  the  world's 
best  known  composers.  Moritz  Oppenheimer  (1800- 
1881)  was  a  prominent  painter,  and  his  scenes  from 
Jewish  life  possess,  besides  their  value  as  works  of 
art,  great  worth  as  historic  scenes.  Marcus  Antokol- 
sky  (1842-1902)  is  one  of  the  most  famous  sculptors, 
and  Joseph  Israels  (born  1824)  and  Max  Liebermann 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  109 

(born  1849)  are  among  the  greatest  painters  of  our 
age.  In  the  lines  of  science  and  scholarly  work 
the  names  of  prominent  Jews  are  too  numerous  to 
mention. 

The  great  change  in  the  life  of  the  Jews  and  their 
education  brought  about  the  necessity  of  harmonizing 
their  religious  practices  with  their  new  life.  Thus 
the  reform  movement  began.  The  forces  which  pro- 
moted it  were  aesthetic,  political  and  dogmatic.  In 
the  first  class  may  be  reckoned  the  efforts  of  Israel 
Jacobson  (1769-1828).  Although  not  a  professional 
scholar  he  was  a  man  of  considerable  Jewish  learn- 
ing, and  his  object  was  to  make  the  services  of  the 
synagogue  more  attractive  to  the  younger  generation. 
The  synagogue  established  by  him  in  connection  with 
the  school  which  he  founded  in  Seesen  in  1810  was 
the  first  that  introduced  some  of  the  reforms  which 
since  have  been  generally  accepted,  namely,  a  sermon 
in  the  vernacular  and  decorum  and  modern  music. 

In  1818  the  first  reform  congregation  was  estab- 
lished in  Hamburg.  It  was  followed  in  1824  by  a 
similar  organization  in  Charleston,  S.  C. ;  this,  how- 
ever, was  soon  dissolved.  These  synagogues  intro- 
duced a  ritual  different  from  the  one  which  had  up  to 
this  time  been  generally  in  use.  The  most  important 
changes  were  those  which  eliminated  the  belief  in  the 
return  of  the  Jews  to  Palestine  and  consequently  also 
in  the  restoration  of  the  sacrificial  cult.  These  were 
followed  by  an  attempt  to  present  systematically  the 
teachings  of  modern  Judaism  and  to  apply  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  modern  critical  school  to  the  whole  of 
Jewish  life,  particularly  the  observance  of  the  dietary 
and  marriage  laws. 


110  HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS 

The  desire  to  work  in  harmony  led  to  the  convoca- 
tion of  Rabbinic  assemblies,  the  first  of  which  was 
held  in  Frankfort-on-the-Main  in  1844.  As  the  ex- 
ponent of  the  most  radical  views  Samuel  Holdheim 
(1806-1860)  is  to  be  mentioned.  It  was  his  idea  that 
Judaism  had  lost  all  its  former  national  significance. 
On  this  basis  the  reform  congregation  of  Berlin,  whose 
first  rabbi  Holdheim  was,  was  established  in  1845, 
introducing  for  the  first  time  solemn  services  on 
Sunday. 

The  most  prominent  scientific  exponent  of  the 
reform  idea  was  Abraham  Geiger  (1810-1874),  one  of 
the  most  prominent  workers  in  scientific  Jewish  litera- 
ture. He  stood  for  a  more  historic  conception  of  the 
reform  principle,  although  as  a  Bible  critic  his  posi- 
tion was  advanced.  His  views  were  shared  by  two 
of  the  leading  rabbis  of  America,  David  Einhorn 
(1809-1879)  and  Samuel  Hirsch  (1815-1889).  They, 
together  with  Samuel  Adler  (1809-1891),  represented 
the  progressive  ideas  of  German  theology  in  America. 

In  1842  reform  was  definitely  introduced  in  the 
synagogue  of  Charleston,  S.  C. ,  following  the  example 
set  by  the  foundation  of  the  West  London  Synagogue 
of  British  Jews  the  year  previously.  In  America, 
however,  reform  took  strongest  hold  and  soon  was 
accepted  by  the  leading  congregations  composed  of 
the  native  and  the  naturalized  element.  The  most 
prominent  figure  in  the  popularization  of  this  move- 
ment in  America  was  Isaac  Mayer  Wise  (1819-1900). 

A  more  conservative  view,  usually  spoken  of  as 
that  of  historic  Judaism,  was  represented  by  Zecha- 
riah  Frankel  (1801-1875).  He  stood  for  freedom  of 
thought  in  theoretical    matters   but   advocated   con- 


HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS  111 

servatism  in  worship  and  practice.  Another  division 
was  formed  by  those  who  stood  uncompromisingly  for 
the  preservation  of  the  traditional  Jewish  life  based 
on  a  strict  belief  in  the  divine  origin  of  the  Bible  and 
the  authenticity  of  Rabbinic  interpretation,  differing 
from  the  old  school  only  in  so  far  as  they  admitted 
secular  education.  The  chief  exponent  of  this  thought 
was  Samson  Raphael  Hirsch  (1808-1888).  In  Amer- 
ica his  views  were  represented  by  Isaac  Leeser  (1806- 
1868)  and  Sabato  Morais  (1823-1897),  while  a  com- 
promising attitude  was  taken  by  Benjamin  Szold 
(1829-1902)  and  Marcus  Justrow  (1829-1903).  The 
traditional  view  of  Judaism  in  the  sense  in  which  it 
had  generally  existed  until  the  latter  half  of  the  eight- 
eenth century,  was  restricted  to  the  Orient  and  East- 
ern Europe  and  to  congregations  formed  by  recent 
immigrants  from  these  countries  in  Western  Europe 
and  America.  As  a  literary  champion  of  this  uncom- 
promising attitude  Hillel  Lichtenstein  (1815-1891) 
deserves  mention. 

One  of  the  features  of  modern  Jewish  development 
is  the  communal  organization  rendered  possible  by 
the  freedom  of  movement  in  religious,  charitable  and 
political  activities.  The  Alliance  Israelite  Universelle 
deserves  for  this  the  first  place.  It  was  founded  for 
the  purpose  of  defending  the  interests  of  the  Jews  in 
countries  of  oppression  and  promoting  their  economic 
and  moral  as  well  as  their  intellectual  status.  This 
organization  was  followed  by  others  with  similar 
objects,  the  Israelitische  Allianz  of  Vienna,  started  in 
1873,  the  Anglo-Jewish  Association,  founded  in  1871, 
and  the  Hilfsverein  der  deutschen  Juden,  in  1901. 

Of  the  many  organizations  confined  to  particular 


112  HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS 

countries  the  Deutsch-Israelitischer  Gemeinde-Bund, 
founded  in  1869,  and  the  Union  of  American  Hebrew 
Congregations,  established  in  1873,  deserve  special 
mention.  Very  numerous  are  the  societies  created  for 
the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  the  Jews,  and  aside 
from  the  local  institutions,  like  hospitals,  homes  for 
the  aged,  orphan  asylums  and  sanitariums,  the  so- 
cieties for  the  promotion  of  mechanical  trades  and 
agriculture  are  distinctly  a  product  of  the  Jewish  con- 
ditions of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Of  organizations  having  a  wider  scope,  the  Jewish 
Colonization  Association  founded  by  Baron  Moritz 
de  Hirsch  in  1891,  has  the  greatest  capital.  These 
schemes  of  colonization,  to  which  the  work  done  by 
the  Zionist  organizations  and  that  contemplated  by 
the  Jewish  Territorial  Organization  founded  in  1905, 
have  to  be  added,  are  as  yet  only  in  their  infancy. 
In  general,  however,  since  the  French  Revolution 
there  has  been  a  steady  progress  of  Jewish  life  in  all 
directions. 


INDEX 


Aaron  ben  Elijah,  43 
Abarbanel,  Isaac,  65 
Abaye,  34 

Abba  Areka  (Rab),  33 
Abbahu  of  Csesarea,  31 
Abderrahman,  39 
Abeles,  Lazarus,  79 
Abraham  ibn  Ezra,  49 
Abramowitsch,     Shalom 

Jacob, 102 
Abulafia,  Meir,  66 
Acosta,  Uriel,  76 
Adereth  Elijahu,  34 
Adler,  Samuel,  110 
JEtia,  Capitolina,  22 
Agobard,  38 
Agrippa,  16,  17 
-  II,  17 
Ahai  of  Shabha,  41 
"Aharonim,"86 
Akedat  Yizhak,  65 
Akiba,  22,  25,  26,  27,  41 
Albigenses,  63 
Albo,  Joseph,  59,  64 
Alcharizi,  Judah,  51 
Alexander  I,  96 

—  II,  96 

—  Jannai,  13 

— ,  son  of  Aristobul,  14 

—  the  Great,  8 

— ,  successors  of,  9 
Alexandra  Salome,  13 
Alfasi,  Isaac,  51,  66,  67 
Algiers,  Chief  Rabbi  of,  67 
Alkabez,  Solomon  Halevi,  86 
Alkymus,  12 
Alliance     Israelite     Univer- 

selle,  106,  107,  111 
Alorqui,  Joshua,  59,  66 


Alphonso  X,  58 

Alsace,  55,  58,  74,  93,  103 

Ambrosius,  37 

America,  83,  99,  100,  109, 
110,  111 

America,  Early  Jewish  Com- 
munities in,  81,  82 

American  Revolution,  82 

Amolo,  39 

Amoraim,  31 

Amram  Gaon,  41 

Amsterdam, 75,  76,  81,  82,  100 

Anan  ben  David,  43 

Anatoli,  Jacob,  65 

Anglo  -  Jewish  Association, 
111 

Antigonus,  9 

-,  14 

Anti-Jewish  books,  38,  39, 
73,  79 

Antiochus  III,  9 

—  IV  (Epiphanes),9,  11 

—  V,  11 

Antipater,  13,  14 
Anti-Semitism,  Rise  of,  98 
Antokolsky,  Marcus,  108 
Antony,  14 
Apollonius,  10 

Arabs,  35,  39,  48,  49,  58 
Arama,  Isaac,  65 
Arbues,  Peter,  60 
Archelaus,  15 
Arians,  38 
Aristobul,  13 
-,  13,  14 

Armleder,  John,  55 
Artaxerxes,  8 
-III,  Ochus.  8 
Aruk,  41,  51 


113 


114 


INDEX 


Aryeh  Lob,  87 

Ascarelli,  Deborah,  84 

Asch,  Shalom,  103 

Ashe,  Rab,  34 

Asher  ben  Yechiel,  67 

Auerbach,  Berthold,  108 

Augustus,  16 

Austria,  79,  91,  92,  94,  95,  98, 

105 
Auto-da-fe,  60,  61,  81 
Avignon,  57 
Azariah   dei    Rossi   of   Fer- 

rara,  84,  85 

Babylonia,  7,  8,  31,  32,  33,  40 
Bacharach,  Jair  Hayyim,  87 
Bahya  ibn  Pakuda,  48,  64 
Bajazed  II,  Sultan,  70 
Balkans,  63 
Bamberger,    Seligman    Bar, 

105 
Barcelona,  Disputation  at,  58 
Bar  Kochba,  Simeon,  22,  26 
Bashjazi,  Elijah,  43 
Basle,   Zionist  Congress  at, 

99 
Bavaria,  Mobs  in,  93 
Bela  IV,  62 
Benedict  XIII,  59 
—  of  York,  48 
Benjamin  of  Nehawend,  43 
Berlin,  72,  75,  79,  81,  90,  100, 

106,  110 
-,  Treaty  of,  97,  99 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  47 
Bernardin  of  Feltre,  56,  61 
Bernstein,  Aaron,  103 
Besht,  Israel,  78 
Bevis  of  Hampton,  Sir,  84 
Bialik,     Chayim     Nachman, 

102 
Bialystok,  96 
Bikure  Ha-ittim,  104 
Black  Plague,  55 
Blois,  France,  48 
Blood-accusation,  47,  53,  56, 

61,  78,  79,  98 
Bobo  book,  83 
Boerne,  Ludwig,  108 


Bohemia,  62 

Bonds,  Annulling  of,  54 

Brazil,  81 

Breslau,  56,  68 

— ,  Rabbinic  Seminary  at,  106 

Bruna,  Israel,  Trial  of,  68 

Bulgaria,  97 

Byzantine  Empire,  30,  37 

Caesar,  14 

Caesarea,  17 

Caligula,  16 

Callistus,  23 

Calvin,  73 

Capistrano,  John,  56,  62 

Caro,  Joseph,  65,  85,  86 

Carpentras,  57 

Casimir  the  Great,  62 

Cestius  Gallus,  18 

Champagne,  province  of,  52 

Charlemagne,  39,  46 

Charles  II  of  England,  75 

—  Ill  of  France,  39 

Charleston,  S.  C,  Reform 
Congregation  at,  109,  110 

Charters,  46,  47,  62 

Chazars,  44,  49 

"Children  of  the  Ghetto," 
103 

Chmelnicki,  78 

Cincinnati,  Rabbinic  Semi- 
nary of,  106 

Claudius,  17 

Clemens,  Flavius,  21 

Clementina,  21 

Cohen,  Joseph,  88 

— ,  Sabbatai,  86 

— ,  Tobias,  89 

Cologne,  56,  92 

Colon,  Joseph,  68 

Conforte,  David,  88 

Constantine,  29,  46 

Constantinople,  Conquest  of, 
63 

Cordova,  Jews  in  Caliphate 
of,  39 

Crassus,  14 

Cremieux,  100 

Crescas,  Hasdai,  64 


INDEX 


115 


Cromwell,  75,  81 

Crusades,  47,  57,  62 

Cyril,  Bishop  of  Alexandria, 

30 
Cyrus,  7 
Czars,  96 

Dahlberg,  Baron  von,  92 
Damascus,  Blood  Accusation 

in,  98 
Dante,  65 
David  Halevi,  86 
David  ben  Zakkai,  42 
Delmedigo,  Jos.   Sol.,  84 
Demetrius  I,  11 
Dessau,  79 
Deuterosis,  30 
Deutsch  -  Israelitischer    Ge- 

meinde-Bund,  11 
Dialecticism  (see  Pilpul) 
Dio  Cassius,  21 
Diocletian,  28 
Disputations,  58,  59 
Divina  Commedia,  65 
Dod  Mordecai,  44 
Dohm,  Christian  F.,  91 
Dominican  Friars,  63,  64,  66, 

73,  74  . 
Domitian,  20 
Donin,  Nicholas,  57,  64 
Donmah,  77 
Donolo,  Sabbatai,  45 
Dramatists,  Yiddish,  103 
Dreyfus,  Capt.  Alfred,  98 
Drumont's    "La     France 

Juive,"  98 
Duma,  97 

Dunash  ibn  Labrat,  39 
Duran,  Simeon  ben  Zemach, 

68 

Eben  Bohan,  65 

-  Haezer,  67 
Eck,  John,  73 
Edward  I,  54 
Eger,  Akiba,  105 
Einhorn,  David,  110 
Eisenmenger,  J.  A.,  79 
Eldad  Hadani,  44 


Eleazar  ben  Azariah,  25 

—  ben  Jehudah,  68 

—  ben  Kallir,  45 

—  of  Modin,  22 

—  bar  Padath,  31 
Eliezer  ben  Hyrkanos,  25 
Elijah  Levita,  83 

—  de  Vidas,  86 

—  del  Medigo,  66 

—  of  Wilna,  88 

Elisha  ben  Abuya  (Acher  the 

Apostate),  26 
Ellstaetter,  Moritz,  100 
Emden,  city,  75 
— ,  Jacob,  88 
Emigration  from  Russia  and 

Rumania,  99 
Emunot  Wedeot,  42 
England,   54,  75,  82,   91,  95, 

100,  110 
En  Jacob,  85 

' '  Entdecktes  Judenthum, ' '  79 
Eshkol  Hakofer,  43 
Ethics,  76 
Ets  Hayim,  43 
Ettlinger,  Jacob,  105 
Expulsion  of  Jews,  Arabia, 

36 
— ,  Austria,  74 
— ,  Berlin,  75,  79 
— ,  Bohemia,  74 
— ,  England,  54,  75 
— ,  France,  57 
— ■,  Germany,  56,  57 
— ,  Hungary,  62 
— ,  Luebeck,  93 
— ,  Portugal,  59,  60 
— ,  Spain,  60,  62 
— ,  Vienna,  79 
Eybeschuetz,   Jonathan,    87t 

88 
Ezra,  the  Scribe,  8,  32 
— ,  the  Kabbalist,  69 
Ezriel,  69 

Felix,  Eliza  Rachel,  108 
Ferdinand  of  Spain,  60,  70 

—  I  of  Austria,  74 
Firkovitch,  Abraham,  44 


116 


INDEX 


"Fiscus  Judaicus,"  20,  21 
Flagellants,  55 
Fould.Godchaux  andAchille, 

100 
France,  37,  38,  39,  48,  53,  54, 

57,  58,  68,  91,  98,  100 
Frank,  Jacob,  77 
Frankel,  Zechariah,  104,  110 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,     80, 

92,  110 
Franzos,  Karl  Emil,  103 
Frederick   II    of    Germany, 

53,  65 
—  the  Belligerent,  Law    of, 

53 

-  the  Great,  90 

-  William  III,  94 

-  William,  of  Brandenburg, 

79 
French  Revolution,  94 

Gabirol  (see  Solomon  ibn) 

Gamaliel  II,  24,  25 

Gan  Eden,  43 

Gans,  David,  88 

Gaonim,  40,  41,  42,  43 

Gaza,  Battle  of,  9 

Gedaliah  ibn  Yahya,  88 

Geiger,  Abraham,  104,  110 

Germany,  36,  37,  39,  46.  52, 
53,  54,  55,  56,  68,  72,  73, 
74,  75,  79,  80,  81,  89,  90, 
91,  92,  93,  98,  101,  103 

Geronimo  de  Santa  Fe  (see 
Alorqui,  Joshua) 

Gershom  ben  Judah  (Meor 
Hagolah),  46 

Gessius  Floras,  17 

Ghetto,  71,  92 

Ghetto  novel,  103 

Goldschmidt,  Meier  Aaron, 
103 

Goldsmid,  Francis  H.,  95 

Gombiner,  Abraham,  86 

Gomperz,  Elijah,  79 

Gordin,  Jacob,  103 

Gordon,  Judah  Loew,  102 

Goths,  37,  38 

Graetz,  Heinrich,  108 


Granada,  49 
Gregoire,  Abbe,  91 
Gregory  I,  37,  38 
Gregory  of  Tours,  38 
Guenzburg,  Aaron,  101 
"Guide  of  the  Perplexed,"  50 

Habib,  Jacob  ibn,  84 
Hadrian,  21,  22 
Halakot  Gedolot,  40 
Halberstadt,  79 
Halle,  79 
Hamaggid,  104 
Hamburg,  93,  109 
Hamon,  Joseph,  70 
Hanina,  Rabbi,  31 
Haschiloach,  104 
Hasdai  ibn  Shaprut,  39,  44 
Hasidim,  77 
-,  Sefer,  68 
Hasidism,  77,  78 
Hasmoneans,  11 
Hay  Gaon,  42 
Hayon,  Nehemiah,  77 
Hazan,  Hayim  David,  105 
"Hazefirah,"  104 
Hechasid,  Judah  ben  Samuel, 

68 
Heilprin,  Jehiel,  88 
Heine,  Heinrich,  108 
Helic,  Luke,  73 
Heliodorus,  10 
Henry  II  of  Aragon,  58 
-  Ill  of  England,  54 

—  IV  of  Germany,  46 
"Hep-hep"  riots,  93 
Heraclius,  30 
Herod,  14,  15 

—  Antipas,  15 
Herzl,  Theodor,  99 
Hezekiah,  14 

— ,  Gaon,  43 

Hilfsverein    der     deutschen 

Juden,  111 
Hillel,  23,  24 

—  II,  32 
Hilperic,  38 

Hirsch,  Baron  Moritz  de,  99, 
112 


INDEX 


117 


Hirsch,  Samson  Raphael,  111 

— ,  Samuel,  110 

Hisda,  34 

Hizuk  Emunah,  43 

Hof-Jude,  Hof-factor,  79 

Holdheim,  Samuel,  110 

Holland  (see  Amsterdam) 

Homel,  96 

Honig,  Israel,  90,  92 

Horowitz,  Isaiah,  86 

Hoshen  Mishpat,  67 

Host  Desecration,  54,  56,  72 

Huna,  33,  34 

Hungary,  62 

Hussites,  56 

Hyrcan,  John,  12 

Ibn  Ezra,  Abraham,  49,  85 
— ,  Ganah,  39 
— ,  Moses,  50 

-  Tibbon,  Samuel,  50,  64 
Idumeans,  12,  13,  15 
Ikkarim,  59,  64 
Immanuel  ben  Solomon,  65 
Innocent  III,  48 

—  IV,  53 

Inquisition,  59,  60,  63,  80,  81 
Ipsus,  Battle  of,  9 
Isaac  ben  Meir,  51 

—  ben  Sheshet  (Ribash),  67 
— ,  Bernhard,  90 

— ,  Don,  58 

-  of  Troki,  43 

— ,  son  of  Rabed,  69 
Isabella,  60 
Isaiah  di  Trani,  68 
Ishmael,  Rabbi,  26 
Isidore  of  Seville,  38 
Islam,  36,  77 
Israelitische  Allianz,  111 
Israels,  Joseph,  108 
Isserlein,  Israel,  68 
Isserls,  Moses,  85 

Jabneh,  School  of,  24 
Jacob  ben  Asher,  67,  85 
Jacobson,  Israel,  109 
Jakob   ben   Meir   (see    Rab- 
benu  Tarn) 


James  VIII,  58 

Jannai,  45 

— ,  Alexander,  13 

Jason  (Joshua),  10 

Jastrow,  Marcus,  111 

Jerome,  32 

Jerusalem,  Siege  of,  by  Ti- 
tus, 18 

— ,  by  Hadrian,  22 

— ,  by  Saladin,  63 

Jesuits,  71,  78,  79 

Jew  Badge  (see  Yellow 
Badge) 

Jewish  Colonization  Associ- 
ation, 112 

—  Propaganda,  in  Rome,  21, 

29 

—  Territorial   Organization, 

112 
Joachim  II,  Margrave,  75 
Johanan  bar  Nappaha,  31 
— ,  high  priest,  8 

—  ben  Zakkai,  24 

John,  King  of  England,  54 

—  Hyrcan,  12 
Jonathan,  Maccabee,  12 
Jose  bar  Halafta,  27 

—  ben  Jose,  45 
— ,  Rabbi,  32 

Joseph  II  of  Austria,  91,  105 

— ,  Rab,  34 

— ,  Raphael,  77 

— ,   son  of  Samuel  Hanagid, 

49 
— ,  son  of  Tobias,  9 
Josephus,  Flavius,  18,  45 
Joshua  ben  Hananiah,  25 

-  ben  Jehozadak,  8 
— ,  Jacob,  87 
Josippon,  45 

Jost,  Isaac  Marcus,  108 
Jotapat,  Siege  of,  18 
Judaso-Christian  sect,  77 
Judah  bar  Ezekiel,  34 

-  bar  Ilai,  27 

-  ben  Samuel  Hechasid,  68 

—  Hadassi,  43 

-  Halevi,  44,  49,  64 

—  Hanasi,  27,  28,  30,  33 


118 


INDEX 


Judah,  successors  of,  31 

—  Hayug,  39 

— ,  son  of  Hezekiah,  16 
-,  the  Elder,  64 
— ,  the  Maccabee,  11 
— ,  the  Patriarch,  23 
Jiidenfeind,  73 
Judenstaat,  Der,  99 
Julian,  the  Apostate,  29 
Julius  Severus,  22 
Justinian,  30 

Kabbala,  41,  45,   63,  69,  77, 

84,  86,  87,  88 
Kalla,  40 
Kalonymos   ben  Kalonymos, 

65 

—  family,  68 

-  of  Lucca,  39,  46 
Kapsali,  Elijah,  68 
Kara,  Simeon,  66 
Karaites,  43,  44 
Karben,  Victor  von,  74 
Kerem  Hemed,  104 
Kimhi,  David,  62,  63 
— ,  Joseph,  64 
— ,  Moses,  64 
Kishineff,  96,  102 
Kohut,  Alexander,  41 
Kompert,  Leopold,  103 
Krochmal,  Nahman,  107 
Kuzari,  44,  49,  64 

Ladino,  63,  70 
Laimen,  Bavaria,  90 
Landau,  Ezekiel,  87 
Lateran  Council,  48 
Lattes,  Bonet  de,  71 
Leeser,  Isaac,  111 
Legislation,  Mediaeval,  53 
Lehman,  Behrendt,  79 
"Lekah  Dodi,"  86 
Lemberg,  78 
Lemlein,  Asher,  72 
Leo  X,  71 

Leon,  Judah  Messer,  65 
Leopold  (Lippold),  75 

—  I  of  Austria,  79 


Levi  ben  Gershom,  64 

Herz   79 

Levita,  Elijah,  71,  83 
Libman,  Jost,  79 
Lichtenstein,  Hillel,  111 
Liebermann,  Max,  108 
Literary  Activity  in  Europe, 

Earliest,  45 
Lithuania,  78 
Liturgy,  41,  49 
Locke,  John,  82 
Loeb,  Aryeh,  87 
Loewe  Ben  Bezalel,  85 
Longobards,  37 
Louis  I  of  Germany,  39 

—  of  Hungary,  62 

—  IX  of  France,  57 

—  X  of  France,  57 

—  of  Hesse,  73 
Luebeck,  93 
Luria,  Isaac,  86 
— ,  Solomon,  85 
Luther,  72,  73 
Luzzatti,  Luigi,  100 
Luzzatto,  Moses  Hayyim,  87 
— ,  Samuel  David,  107 
Lysias,  11 

Maaseh  Tobiyah,  89 
Maccabee,  Judah  the,  11 
Machir  ben  Aba  Mari,  66 
Magnesia,  Battle  of,  9 
Maimonides,  50,  51,  63,  66,  85 
Mammaea,  23 
Manuel,  60 

Mapu,  Abraham,  101,  102 
Marannos,  59,  60,  61,  70,  72, 

76,  80,  81 
Marcus  Aurelius,  23 
Margaliot,  Jacob,  73 
Margaritha,  Antonius,  73 
Mariamne,  15,  16 
Marinus  (see  ibn  Ganah) 
Martinez,  Ferdinand,  58 
Massada,  Siege  of,  19 
Masseket  Purim,  65 
Mattathiah,  11 
Mayence,  46,  92 
"Meassef,"  101,  103 


INDEX 


119 


Medigo  (see  Delmedigo,  Jos. 

Sol.) 
Medigo,  Elijah  del,  66 
Medini,  Hayim  Hezekiah,  105 
Meir  of  Rothenburg,  67 
-,  Rabbi,  27 
Meisels,  Mordecai,  74 
Menahem  ben  Saruk,  39 
Menasseh  ben  Israel,  75 
Mendele  the  bookseller  (see 

Abramowitsch) 
Mendelssohn,  Moses,  90,  100, 

101,  105 
Mendes,    Joseph    (Duke    of 

Naxos),  70 
— ,  Gracia,  70 
Menelaus,  10 
Meor  Enayim,  84 
Merovingian  kings,  37 
Messiah,   33,   36,  70,  71,   76, 

77,  86 
Metz,  91,  106 
Meyerbeer,  Giacomo,  108 
Mezdzyrzecz,  Baer,  78 
Midrah,  45,  65,  66 
Miklol,  63 

Ministers,  Jews  as,  100 
Mishnah,  Compilation  of,  27, 

30,  31,  33,  34 
— ,  Commentary,  50,  64 
Mishneh  Torah,  50 
Mizrahi,  Elijah,  83 
Mob  Violence,  29,  40,  37,  46, 

48,  54,  55,  57,  62,  78,  79, 

80,  93,  96,  99 
Modena,  Leon,  84 
Modin,  11 
Mohammed,  35,  36 
Mohammedans,    29,    39,    40, 

70,  72 
Molcho,  Solomon,  72 
Monism,  76 
Morais,  Sabato,  111 
Moravian  Brethren,  73 
Mordecai  ben  Hillel,  67 
-  ben  Nissim,  44 
Moreh  Ncbukim,  50,  63,  64, 

67 
Morteira,  Rabbi  Saul,  76 


Moses  ben  Maimon  (see  Mai- 
monides) 

—  ben  Nachman,  58,  66 

—  ben  Uri,  75 

—  ibn  Ezra,  50 
-  of  Coucy,  68 

—  of  Leon,  69 

Nahman  bar  Jacob,  34 

—  of  Bratzlav,  78 
Naples,  37 
Napoleon  I,  93 

—  Ill,  100 
Nathan  of  Gaza,  77 

—  of  Rome,  41,  51 
Naxos,  Duke  of,  70 
Nebuchadnezzar,  7 
Nehardea,  School  in,  33 
Nehemiah,  8 

—  Hakohen,  77 
Nero,  18 
Nerva,  21 
New  York,  102 

— ,  Rabbinic  Seminary  of,  106 

Nicholas  I,  96 

Nigrinus,  73 

Nikanor,  12 

Nikolsburg,  106 

Norway,  95 

Nuremberg,  67,  68 

Odessa,  96 
Offenbach,  77 
Oglethorpe,  James,  82 
Omar,  Covenant  of,  36 
Onias  III,  10 

Oppenheimer,  Moritz,  108 
— ,  Samuel,  79 
Orah  Hayyim,  67 
Organizations,  111,  112 
Orzeska,  Eliza,  103 
Ostrogoths,  36 
Ottolenghi,  Joseph,  100 

Padua,  School  at,  106 
Palaggi,  Hayim,  105 
Palestine,  Character  of  Stud- 
ies in,  32 
Pantheism  (Monism),  76 


120 


INDEX 


Parliaments,  Jews  as  mem- 
bers of,  94,  95,  97 

Parsees,  28 

Parthians,  14,  28 

Paul  IV,  71 

Payetanim,  45 

Peretz,  Isaac  Loeb,  102 

Perls,  Joseph,  105 

Persecutions  (see  Mob  Vio- 
lence, Host  Desecration, 
and  Blood  Accusation) 

Persia,  8,  30,  40 

Peter  the  Cruel,  58 

Petronius,  16 

Pfefferkorn,  John,  73,  74 

Pharisees,  13,  21 

Philip,  son  of  Herod,  15 

-  IV  of  France,  57 

-  V  of  France,  57,  72 
Philippi,  Battle  of,  14 
Philippson,  Ludwig,  104 
Pick,  Isaiah,  88 
Pilpul,  34,  87,  88 
Pirke,  Rabbi  Eliezer,  45 
Pius  V,  71 

— ,  Marcus  Antoninus,  23,  26 

Piyut,  45 

Podolia,  77 

Poland,  57,  62,  71,  77,  78 

Pompey,  14 

Pontius  Pilate,  16 

Popes,  37,  38,  48,  53,  57,  59, 
61,  70,  71,  72,  74,  93 

Portugal,  60,  76,  80,  81,  82 

Press,  Jewish,  101,  103,  104 

Printing,  62,  71,  75 

Priscus,  38 

Propaganda,  20,  29 

Protestantism,  72,  73 

Prussia  (see  Berlin  and  Ger- 
many), 90,  92,  94 

Ptolemy,  of  Egypt,  9 

— ,  son-in-law  of  Simon  the 
Maccabee,  12 

Pumbeditha,  School  of,  34, 
40,  42 

Quietus,  21 
Quirinius,  1? 


Rab  (see  Abba  Areka) 
Raba,  34 

Rabba  bar  Nahmani,  34 
Rabbenu-Hakadosh  (see  Ju- 

dah  Hanasi) 
—  Tarn,  51,  52 
Rabbi  (see  Judah  Hanasi) 
Rabina,  34 
Ramban,  66,  69 
Rapoport,     Solomon     Loew, 

107 
Rashba    (see    Solomon     ibn 

Adret) 
Rashbam,  51,  52 
Rashi,  51,  52 
Ratisbon,  56,  57 
Ravenna,  37 
Rebellion    of    Jews,    under 

Trajan,  21 
Reform  Movement,  109,  110, 

111 
Reformation,  72,  73,  74,   78, 

83 
Reggio,  Isaac  Samuel,  107 
Renaissance,  73,  83,  84 
Resh  Galutha,  40 

-  Methibta,  40 
Responsa  (see  Teshubot) 
Reubeni,  David,  72 
Reuchlin,  John,  73,  74 
Reyna,  70 

Rhode  Island,  76,  82 
Ribash  (see  Isaac  ben  She- 

shet) 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  48 
Riesser.  Gabriel,  94 
Rieti,  Moses,  65 
Rindfleisch  riot,  55,  67 
Rcettingen,  54 
Rokeah,  68 
Romano,  Elijah,  71 
— ,  Solomon,  71 
Rome,    13   sq.    (see   Popes), 

93 
Rosenfeld,  Morris,  102 
Rosh,  67 

Rosheim,  Josel,  74 
Rossi,  Azariah  dei  (see  Aza- 

riah) 


INDEX 


121 


Rothschild,  Baron  Lionel  de, 

95 
— ,  Baron  Nathan  de,  96 
Rumania,  97,  99 
Russia,  96,  97,  99 

Saadya  Gaon,  42,  43 
Sabbatai  Zevi,  76,  77,  88 
Saboraim,  34 
Sacher-Masoch,  Leopold  von, 

103 
Sadducees,  13 
Safed,  70,  86 
Saladin,  63 

Salman  ben  Jeroham,  43 
Salome  Alexandra,  13 
Salomons,  David,  95 
Samaritans,    Conversion   of, 

12 
Samuel  of  Naharder,  33 

—  ben  Meir  (see  Rashbam) 
-,  Herbert,  100 

—  Hanagid,  49 

—  ibn  Adijah,  35 
-  ibn  Hofni,  42 

San  Benito,  60 
Sanhedrin,  24,  25,  33,  93 
S  argon,  7 
Schools,    Modern,    105,    106, 

107 
Schreiber,     Moses     (Sofer), 

104 
"Science  of  Judaism,"  107 
Secular  Education,  Rise  of, 

101,  105 
Seder  Rab  Amram,  41 
Seesen,  109 
Sefer  Hayashar,  52 
Seleucus,  9 

Seligmann,  Aaron  Elias,  90 
Selim  I,  Sultan,  70 
Semag,  69 
Servia,  97 

Severus,  Alexander,  23 
— ,  Septimius,  23 
"Shebet  Jehudah,"  88 
Sheeltot,  41 
Shepherd  Crusaders,  57 
Sherira,  Epistle  of,  42 


Shesheth,  34 

Shtadlan,  74 

Shulhan  Aruk,  65,  85,  86 

Sicarii,  17 

Sidra,  40 

Silbermann,  Lazarus,  104 

Simeon  bar  Isaac,  46 

—  ben  Azai,  26 

—  ben  Gamaliel  II,  27 

—  ben  Lakish,  31 

—  ben  Shetach,  13 

—  ben  Yohai,  69,  88 

—  Kayara,  40 

—  the  Stylite,  St.,  30 
Simon,  the  reformer,  10 
— ,  the  Maccabee,  12 

-,  of  Trent,  56 
Sofer,  Moses,  104 
Soliman  II,  Sultan,  70 
Solomon    ben    Abraham    of 
Montpellier,  66 

—  ben  Isaac  (see  Rashi) 

—  Halevi   (Paul,   Bishop    of 

Burgos),  59 

—  Ibn  Adret  (Rashba),  67 

—  ibn  Gabirol,  49 

—  Ibn  Verga,  88 

— ,  son  of  Judah,  64 
Soncino  family,  75 
Sonnenthal,  Adolf  von,  108 
Spain,  38,  39,  48,  49,  58,  70, 

81,  88 
Spector,  Isaac  Elhanan,  105 
Speyer,  46,  47 
Spinoza,  Benedict,  76 
Steinhart,  Joseph,  88 
Steinschneider,  Moritz,  108 
Straus,  Oscar  S.,  100 
Stuyvesant,  Governor,  76,  82 
Sullam,  Sarah  Copia,  84 
Sultans,  70 

Sura,  School  in,  33,  40,  42 
Sweden,  95 
Switzerland,  95 
Syria,  9,  10,  12 
Szold,  Benjamin,  111 

Talmud,  Burning  of,  57 
— ,  Palestinian,  32 


122 


INDEX 


Talmud,  Babylonian,  34,  46, 

51,  52,  64,  67,  71,  84 
— ,  Travesty  on,  65 
Talmudic  Dictionaries,  41,  51 

—  Literature,  66 
Tanaim,  27,  31 
Targum,  34 
Tarnopol,  105 

Tashbez  (Simeon  Duran),  68 
Terumat  Ha-Deshen,  68 
Teshubot  (Responsa),  40,42, 

46,  67,  68 
Theodoric,  36 
Theodosius  I,  29 

—  II,  30 

Tiberias,  School  of,  31 

Tineius  Rufus,  22 

Tishbi,  83 

Titus,  18 

Toledo,  58 

"Toleranz-Edict,"  91 

Torquemada,  Thomas,  60 

Tortosa,  Disputation  at,  59 

Tosafists,  52 

Tractatus,  Theologico  Politi- 

cus,  76 
Trajan,  21 
Trani,  Isaiah  di,  68 
Tremellius,  Emanuel,  73 
Trent,  Blood  Accusation  at, 

56,  61 
— ,  Council  of,  71 
Trigland,  Jacob,  43 
Tryphon,  12 
Turim,  67 
Turks,  63,  70 

Union  of  American  Hebrew 

Congregations,  112 
United  States  (see  America) 
Uriel  Acosta,  76 
Usha,  Synod  at,  26 
Usque,  Samuel,  88 

Varus,  16 
Venice,  70,  71,  72 
Vespasian,  18,  24 
Vidas,  Elijah  de,  86 


Vienna,  Congress  of,  93 

— ,  School  for  blind  and  deaf 

mutes  at,  106 
Visigoths,  38 
Vital,  Hayyim,  86 
Volhynia,  77 

Washington,  George,  82 
Weill,  Alexander,  103 
Wenzel,  King  of  Bohemia,  55 
Wertheimer,  Samson,  79 
Wesel,  Naphtali  Herz,  101 
Wessely  Hartwig  (see  Wesel) 
West  India  Company,  76 
William  of  Norwich,  47 
Williams,  Roger,  76,  82 
Wise,  Isaac  M.,  104,  110 
Wolf,  Moses  Benj.,  79 
Wolfenstein,  Martha,  103 
Wolkenburg  Castle,  47 
Wollemborg,  100 
Worms,  46 
Wuerzburg,  47 

Yalkut  Machiri,  66 

—  Shimeoni,  66 

Yellow  Badge,  48,  58,  71,  91 

Yezirah,  Sefer,  41 

Yiddish,  63,  102 

Yoreh  Deah,  67 

Zadok,  13 

Zangwill,  Israel,  103 
Zealots,  16,  18,  24 
"Zemah  David,"  88 
Zemah  Gaon,  41,  51 
Zemstvo,  Jews  excluded  from 

the,  97 
Zerahiah  Halevi,  67 
Zerubbabel,  8 
Zevi,  Sabbatai    (see   Sabba- 

tai) 
Zion,  Ode  to,  49 
— ,  Lovers  of,  99 
Zionism,  99,  113 
Zohar,  69,  88 
Zunz,  Leopold,  107 


